Donald Trump has been told by some advisers that if he has a large enough lead over Kamala Harris in key battleground states such as Pennsylvania, he will vote on election night, according to people close to Trump. He has been told he should declare victory early, but it remains unclear whether he will follow that advice.
If Trump has a hundreds of thousands of votes advantage in Pennsylvania, or even if the results aren’t fully finalized by Tuesday night, Trump’s internal pollsters say a victory is plausible. The consensus view is that if you think so, you have nothing to lose by claiming victory. .
But even Trump’s most bellicose allies (including former White House strategist Stephen Bannon, who met with Trump last week) have warned that if the race gets any closer before Trump goes to bed, He is reportedly suggesting that he refrain from making an announcement. Don’t let him seem stupid.
In the final stages of the campaign, Mr. Trump and his campaign exuded confidence. This raised expectations among her supporters that she would win, and created the basis for baseless claims that the election was stolen if she lost and Harris took the White House. Premature declarations of victory will probably also influence the phenomenon.
The wild card element in what Trump does on election night remains Trump himself. Trump’s aides acknowledge that if he decides he wants to make a statement, he will do whatever he wants, and that his well-traveled team may have little motivation or influence to dissuade him.
The very fact that the Trump campaign is collectively shrugging off the possibility of the former president prematurely declaring the winner, as he did in the immediate aftermath of the 2020 election, underscores the new norms of presidential politics shattered by Trump. worthy of attention as such.
President Trump’s premature declaration will not contain the element of surprise it did four years ago. Harris’ campaign said she was preparing to pull such a stunt again.
In contrast to his premeditation in the 2020 election, when he told friends and allies he intended to declare victory regardless of the outcome, Trump is not sure what he plans to do on election night this time around, according to people familiar with the matter. He didn’t say much about it.
Trump dodged questions about his intentions when he cast his vote Tuesday.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen in terms of declaring victory,” Trump said. “It looks like we have a sizable lead. It looks like we have a lot more Republicans voting than Democrats. So if you’re leading and getting more votes, it’s your It means they’re doing well, but they need to decide on a winner. And they should call a winner.”
However, President Trump remains silent, whether this is due to his advisors quashing a conspiracy that had begun to overturn the election results, or whether it was because the press was in a separate venue from the private monitoring party. is maintained. about his intentions.
President Trump will watch the results come in at a private watch party for members, donors and other friends and family at his Mar-a-Lago club, but the official election watch party will be a short drive away. It will be held at the West Palm Beach Convention Center. , the people of Florida said.
Officials say the private watch party will start early and Trump is likely to project to members that he is winning. That incident at Mar-a-Lago has been described as a knife fight, with allies removing donor names from lists to qualify themselves.
It remains unclear whether President Trump will further strengthen his claim to victory at the convention center party. Trump aides have indicated that if Trump decides to announce himself as the winner, he will drive from Mar-a-Lago, but if not, he may not show up at all.
Read more of the Guardian’s 2024 US election coverage
