Trump goes back into the arena at the high mass of the American conservatives

AFP

Donald Trump is back: for the first time since he left the White House, the former president will address an ultra-conservative audience on Sunday, determined to regain control of a Republican party that is struggling to hide its divisions.  

Will he be a candidate in 2024? Among his allies and opponents, this same question resonates. And the tribune, willingly provocative, should flirt openly with this idea.

In front of the American conservatives gathered for their annual high mass in Orlando, the ex-president is in any case on conquered ground. One message resonates with these convinced pro-Trumpers: there is no question of turning their backs on him. 

Just like the senators, governors, former ministers, who for three days praised the four years of his presidency. 

"America first is what it takes for America," pleaded Saturday Mike Pompeo, the most faithful of the trumpist ministers, echoing the famous doctrine of the former president.

In the image also of the flags and caps of the participants, for many stamped "Trump", and this huge golden statue in the effigy of the 74-year-old billionaire who thrones in the hall of the conference.

For his first speech since January 20, scheduled for 3:40 p.m. local time, the businessman will first talk about immigration and "the disastrous policies" of his successor Joe Biden on this issue, his entourage told AFP.

But he will especially evoke "the future of the Republican Party and the conservative movement".

"We will not create new parties, we will not divide our power. We will be united and powerful as never before," he should say, according to excerpts from his speech obtained by Fox News.

Since the murderous assault on the Capitol, however, the Republican Party has displayed gaping divisions.

After four years of the Trump mandate, Republicans have lost control of Congress and the White House. And it is a former president marked with the infamous stain of an indictment ("impeachment") for inciting insurrection in the attack on the Capitol that will take the stage.

Trump was finally acquitted at his Senate trial in mid-February. But historically, seven Republicans voted to convict him. 

One of them openly dismissed on Sunday the idea of Donald Trump as the Republican nominee for the 2024 presidential election: "If we idolize a person, we will lose," Senator Bill Cassidy warned on CNN.

Other Republicans could, of course, run in 2024, such as Senators Josh Hawley, Tom Cotton, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley. 

But they all remain aware of the electoral strength of a president who came to power with the biggest surprise in modern political history.

Although he is retiring as former president in Florida, Donald Trump still has the support of millions of Republican voters and has not stopped meddling in party affairs. 

And even without his Twitter account, he wants to prove that he is still able to make and break careers on the right.

Source: AFP