Donald Trump is preparing to officially launch his 2024 presidential campaign on 14 November, according to a new report.
Three sources familiar with the plan confirmed the penciled date to Axios on Friday, hours after Mr Trump dropped the strongest hint yet that he may run for the White House for the third time in 2024 after months of speculation.
Addressing an election rally in Sioux City, Iowa on Thursday night, Mr Trump said he will “very, very, very probably” make another bid for the president’s office.
“And now, in order to make our country successful and safe and glorious, I will very, very, very probably do it again,” Mr Trump said at an event for supporting Republican senator Chuck Grassley.
“Get ready that’s all I’m telling you — very soon. Get ready,” Mr Trump added as the crowd chanted his name.
Per Axios, the one-time president’s team is still in discussions about the final date for his campaign launch.
Should it happen on 14 November, it would come less than a week after the midterm elections.
Mr Trump’s aides have reportedly blocked out several weeks after the midterms in anticipation of the announcement.
Speaking at his rally on Thursday night, Mr Trump reiterated the false claim of having won the 2020 presidential election.
“I ran twice,” he said. “I won twice, and did much better the second time than I did the first, getting millions more votes in 2020 than I got in 2016,” he added.
“And likewise, getting more votes than any sitting president in the history of our country by far.”
Although Mr Trump did win the most votes ever for a sitting president at 72 million, he still lost to his Democrat opponent Joe Biden, who won more votes than any other presidential candidate in US history, at more than 81 million.
The former president has been teasing for months the possibility of him running for the top job again – but has always stopped short of an official declaration.
“In order to make our country successful, safe and glorious again, I will probably have to do it again,” he had said last month.
Mr Trump's former senior counselor Kellyanne Conway, at an event on Thursday morning, said she expected the Republican leader to announce his White House bid “soon”.
“I give him a ton of credit for not announcing... stepping in the way of midterm candidates,” she said.
“I think you can expect him to announce soon,” Ms Conway added.
After dropping the major hint, Mr Trump was reportedly speed-dialing confidantes to chalk out possible scenarios as he looks to benefit from expected Republican wins in the upcoming midterms.
“I think like a moth to a flame, Trump will run in 2024,” one senior adviser on the condition of anonymity told Reuters. “I think that he wants to run and announcing before Thanksgiving gives him a great advantage over his opponents and he understands that.”
The Republican leader intends to announce his re-election campaign shortly after the midterm polls, a source familiar with Mr Trump’s plans said. He has reportedly begun sounding out potential staff for his campaign.
