佛罗里达州棕榈海滩-前总统唐纳德·特朗普计划在周六晚上对捐助者的闭门演讲中申明他对共和党的承诺，并提高其他人成为共和党下一任总统候选人的可能性。
美联社(Associated Press)获得的准备好的讲话中概述了特朗普的信息，与此同时，共和党官员试图淡化党内对特朗普在共和党政治中的持续领导地位、他对政党筹款的承诺以及他对2024年的计划的宿怨。尽管特朗普的顾问报告称，他将强调政党团结，但众所周知，他偏离了剧本。
特朗普在准备好的讲话中说:“我们今晚聚集在一起，讨论共和党的未来——以及我们必须做些什么来让我们的候选人走上胜利的道路。”“今晚，我满怀信心地站在你们面前，相信在2022年，我们将夺回众议院，夺回参议院——然后在2024年，一名共和党候选人将赢得白宫。”
这位前总统将在佛罗里达州度假胜地马拉加闭门发表讲话，这是共和党全国委员会周末在棕榈滩举行的捐助者峰会的最后一次讲话。RNC只接受邀请的周末聚会大多在四英里外的一家豪华酒店举行，但与会者被大巴送到特朗普的俱乐部听取他的讲话。
佛罗里达州州长罗恩·德桑蒂斯预计也将在周六晚上向捐助者发表讲话。周末早些时候，许多已经为2024年总统竞选做好准备的候选人出现了。除了德桑蒂斯，潜在的白宫竞争者包括南达科他州州长克里斯蒂·诺姆和阿肯色州参议员汤姆·科顿。众议院少数党领袖凯文·麦卡锡、佛罗里达州参议员里克·斯科特和马尔科·卢比奥以及南卡罗来纳州参议员林赛·格雷厄姆也发了言。
在周五晚上的讲话中，科顿倾向于共和党的文化战争，抨击民主党在跨性别青年、选民身份法和美国职业棒球大联盟(Mail League Ballage)决定将其全明星赛(All-Star Game)改为抗议共和党投票法方面的立场——就像特朗普在他准备好的讲话中所做的那样。
虽然共和党的一个重要派别希望摆脱特朗普的分裂领导，但周末聚会的地点表明，至少目前，共和党还没有准备好取代特朗普成为其无可争议的领导人和主要资金筹集者。
特朗普的团队报告说，他的言论旨在加强他在共和党事务中的持续领导作用，与历届总统截然不同。
特朗普顾问杰森·米勒说:“周六的演讲将受到前来马拉加直接听取特朗普总统讲话的共和党捐助者的欢迎。”。“棕榈滩是新的政治权力中心，特朗普总统是共和党最好的信使。”
尽管周六发出了预期的信息，但特朗普对共和党的承诺远非确定。
今年早些时候，他提出了建立一个新政党的可能性。就在一个月前，特朗普的政治行动委员会致函RNC和其他人，要求他们“立即停止和停止在所有筹款、说服和/或发表演讲中未经授权使用唐纳德·特朗普总统的姓名、形象和/或肖像。”
共和党官员一再试图淡化筹款紧张局势，并将特朗普的参与视为他愿意为该党增光的迹象。与此同时，特朗普继续积极积累竞选资金，以推动自己的政治野心。
特朗普最近几周还经常攻击批评他的共和党人，特别是参议院少数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔(Mitch McConnell)和众议院第三号共和党人莉兹·切尼(Liz Cheney)。两人都没有参加周末的捐助者峰会。
特朗普在周六的演讲中没有攻击切尼或麦康奈尔——或任何共和党人——至少根据他照本宣科的言论。
Trump in 2024? He says only that 'a Republican' will win
PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Former PresidentDonald Trumpplans to affirm his commitment to the Republican Party — and raise the possibility that someone else will be the GOP's next presidential nominee — in a closed-door speech to donors Saturday night.
Trump's message, outlined in prepared remarks obtained by The Associated Press, comes as GOP officials seek to downplay an intraparty feud over Trump's continued leadership in Republican politics, his commitment to party fundraising and his plans for 2024. While Trump's advisers report he will emphasize party unity, he is famously known to go off script.
“We are gathered tonight to talk about the future of the Republican Party — and what we must do to set our candidates on a course to victory,” Trump says in prepared remarks. “I stand before you this evening filled with confidence that in 2022, we are going to take back the House and we are going to reclaim the Senate — and then in 2024, a Republican candidate is going to win the White House.”
The former president will deliver his remarks behind closed doors at his Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago, in the final address of the Republican National Committee's weekend donor summit in Palm Beach. Most of the RNC's invitation-only weekend gathering was set at a luxury hotel four miles away, but attendees were bused to Trump's club for his remarks.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to address donors Saturday night as well. Earlier in the weekend, a slew of candidates already positioning themselves for a 2024 presidential run made appearances. Besides DeSantis, the potential White House contenders included South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Sens. Rick Scott and Marco Rubio of Florida and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina also spoke.
In his remarks Friday night, Cotton leaned into the GOP’s culture wars, attacking the Democrats’ positions on transgender youth, voter ID laws and Major League Baseball's decision to move its All-Star Game to protest Republican voting laws — just as Trump does in his prepared remarks.
While a significant faction of the Republican Party hopes to move past Trump’s divisive leadership, the location of the weekend gathering suggests that the GOP, at least for now, is not ready to replace Trump as its undisputed leader and chief fundraiser.
Trump's team reports that his remarks are intended to reinforce his continued leadership role in Republican affairs, a sharp break from past presidents.
“Saturday’s speech will be welcomed words to the Republican donors visiting Mar-a-Lago to hear directly from President Trump," Trump adviser Jason Miller said. "Palm Beach is the new political power center, and President Trump is the Republican Party’s best messenger.”
Despite Saturday's intended message, Trump's commitment to the GOP is far from certain.
Earlier in the year, he raised the possibility of creating a new political party. And just a month ago, Trump’s political action committee sent letters to the RNC and others asking them to “immediately cease and desist the unauthorized use of President Donald J. Trump’s name, image, and/or likeness in all fundraising, persuasion, and/or issue speech.”
GOP officials have repeatedly tried to downplay the fundraising tensions and see Trump’s participation as a sign that he is willing to lend his name to the party. At the same time, Trump continues to aggressively accumulate campaign cash to fuel his own political ambitions.
Trump has also regularly attacked his Republican critics in recent weeks, especially Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and No. 3 House Republican Liz Cheney. Neither attended the weekend donor summit.
Trump did not attack Cheney or McConnell — or any Republicans — in Saturday's speech, at least according to his scripted remarks.
