Trump says he is “angry” and “very committed” to his White House bid

(CNN) — Former President Donald Trump says he’s more committed than ever to getting back into the White House. A third presidential bid November.

Appearing in New Hampshire ahead of a second stop in South Carolina, Trump said he was “very angry” about the direction of the country and vowed to return to the nation’s first primary state “many, many times.” First place Granite State in 2016.

“This is it,” Trump told members of the New Hampshire Republican Party at their annual meeting in Salem. “We’re starting here as a presidential candidate.”

Meanwhile, in South Carolina, Trump vowed his 2024 campaign would be “about the future,” in a speech that avoided repeating the lies about the 2020 election he’s been promoting for the past two years.

“This campaign is going to be about the future. This campaign is going to be about themes. Joe Biden has put America on a fast track to ruin and destruction, and let’s make sure he doesn’t get four more years,” the former president said at a small event at the Statehouse in Columbia.

On the way to South Carolina, Trump took aim at 2024 challenger Ron DeSantis, And the Florida governor and his team told reporters on his plane that they were “trying to rewrite history” regarding their response to the Covid-19 pandemic. He also described a possible presidential bid by a Republican contender as “very unfair.”

Trump said Nikki HaleyHis former ambassador to the United Nations called him in recent days to tell him he was considering a 2024 presidential bid.

“I talked to her for a while and Trump said, ‘Look, you know, if you want to run, follow your heart.'” She said publicly, “I would never run against my president, he’s a great president.”

Trump said Haley said she “had to do it.”

Haley, who recently moved her top advisers to Charleston, is said to be weighing the timing of the campaign at this time because she doesn’t want to make Trump the only candidate. In 2021, he said Trump won’t challenge if he runs for the White House again in 2024.

CNN has reached out to DeSantis and Haley for comment.

Back to campaign events

Earlier on Saturday, the Trump campaign sent out a fundraising email announcing that “no other candidate has worked so quickly to win every last vote” and touted himself as “the first Republican presidential candidate to campaign in the top two primary states.”

In New Hampshire, Trump announced that outgoing Republican Party Chairman Stephen Stepanek will join his campaign as a senior adviser.

Stefanek co-chaired Trump’s first presidential campaign before serving as the Republican Party’s top official in New Hampshire. He joins the Trump team as support for the three-time presidential candidate dwindles among state officials looking for a fresh face to lead their party’s ticket.

In his remarks in Salem, Trump supported him Monthly bracket on the road, a denial of media coverage that raised questions about his slow start to his campaign, having remained in Florida since launching his candidacy in November. He emphasized that his 2024 campaign was not about playing “to stop the defense,” referring to a strategy used in American football by a team that takes a lead late in a game.

“They said, ‘He’s not rallying, maybe he’s lost that step.’ “I’m angrier and more determined now than ever,” Trump said.

In New Hampshire, Trump said his new plan would eliminate federal funding for schools that “promote significant racial ideology or left-wing sexism” and require parents to elect school principals. Local control.”

Second stop of the day

Meanwhile, in Columbia, South Carolina, campaign aides and allies are lining up to stop Trump’s second campaign this Saturday, including senior advisers Brian Jack and Chris LaCivita and former White House director of social media Dan Scavino.

With his podium set beneath the Capitol Rotunda and surrounded by American flags, the event had all the trappings of a presidential event. He was deliberately chosen to appear that way by the Trump team, which hoped to capitalize on its candidate’s unique status as a former president, especially as it prepares to attract challengers, including Haley, in the coming weeks.

Across the aisle from Trump’s announcement was the chamber of the South Carolina House of Representatives, whose Republican members approached the former president’s 2024 campaign with a mixture of joy and trepidation.

While some enthusiastically embraced his offer, others told CNN ahead of Saturday’s event that they are waiting to see how the GOP primary field shapes up, particularly Haley and Sen. Tim Scott – Two South Carolina natives will explore their own run at the White House. – They decide to take the former president.

Trump on Saturday introduced his campaign’s state leadership committee in South Carolina, which includes Gov. Henry McMaster and Sen. Lindsey Graham included. At the event, he stopped short of falsely claiming the 2020 election was rigged, but vowed to “restore the integrity of the election” and said “people should believe in the election”.

Trump Won the South Carolina primary 10 points in 2016, a feat he hopes to achieve again this cycle. However, his main rival, DeSantis, is already building his own allies in the state, according to a person familiar with the outreach.

“He already has a very close team who are making calls to appease him,” the person said.

Trump It is still being investigated by the judiciaryand Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is overseeing criminal investigations into Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort and the withholding of classified documents. January 6, 2021 Rebellion At the United States Capitol. Both investigations refer to Trump’s conduct.

This comes on the heels of recent revelations that classified documents were found at locations linked to Trump’s campaign events on Saturday. So much for Biden Like the former vice president Mike Pence. Attorney General Merrick Garland Appointed a special public prosecutor Take the investigation into classified Obama-era documents found in Biden’s home and former private office.

Earlier this week, Facebook’s parent company, Meta, Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts announced In the coming weeks, two years after the suspension following the January 6 attacks.