WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (CNN) — Donald Trump began his political comeback when many in his own party wanted him to go away. He announced his third White House bid days after Republicans underwhelmed in the 2022 midterm elections, a performance that prominent GOP figures laid squarely at his feet — for the candidates he supported, for lingering resentments over the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol and for his unwillingness to recede from public life in the aftermath of defeat. Surrounded at Mar-a-Lago by the close allies and aides that had yet to abandon him during his post-presidency exile, Trump assigned blame elsewhere, including the justice system that had raided his Palm Beach estate three months prior.
He offered a dark assessment of the country after he left office and forecasted that before long voters would turn against those in charge. “I have no doubt that by 2024, it will sadly be much worse, and they will see clearly what has happened and is happening to our country,” Trump said, “and the voting will be much different.” By early Wednesday morning, Trump’s prediction had materialized.
Millions of Americans, including pivotal voters in Midwest and Sun Belt battlegrounds, cast ballots that clinched Trump’s historic comeback — one that promises to reshape American politics for the foreseeable future. Trump’s victory, years in the making, is as notable for its breadth as for its method. His campaign aimed from the outset to remake the poli.
