Cassidy Hutchinson, a White House aide during the Trump administration, said Trump was aware some people had weapons, but still told the crowd to march on the Capitol. Video / AP
Donald Trump is set to wait until after his daughter’s wedding, and announce his 2024 White House run on a date around November 14.
Trump’s youngest daughter, Tiffany, is getting married at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on November 12, and the former president is expected to give away the bride.
Advisers are planning for him to declare shortly after the wedding, possibly on the following Monday, and then head off for a series of campaign rallies around the country.
The plan is not final and depends on candidates Trump has backed in the midterm elections on November 8 doing well, and Republicans taking back control of the US Senate.
Melania and Donald Trump at The Freedom Ball wearing a gown made in a collaboration with French-born designer Hervé Pierre. Photo / Sarah L Voisin
At a rally in Sioux City, Iowa on Thursday night, Trump gave his clearest public indication yet that he will announce his candidacy imminently.
He said: “In order to make our country successful and safe and glorious, I will very, very, very probably do it again, okay? Very, very, very probably.
“Get ready. That’s all I’m telling you. Very soon. Get ready. Get ready.”
He also vowed that “we are going to take back our magnificent White House”.
Iowa was a significant place to make the comments because it will be the first state to vote in the race for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.
Kellyanne Conway, an adviser to Trump, said: “I think you can expect him to announce soon. Obviously, there’s a family wedding coming up on his property.”
Tiffany Trump, 29, is marrying Michael Boulos, 25, in what is expected to be an extravagant event.
Boulos is from a wealthy Lebanese family, grew up in Nigeria, and studied in the UK at Regent’s University London.
Tiffany Trump spoke at the Republican National Convention on August 24, 2020. Photo / Getty Images
He still spends time in London and the engaged couple have been spotted there, including in Knightsbridge.
Boulos proposed in the White House Rose Garden, with a $1.2 million diamond ring, and the engagement was announced on Trump’s final full day in office on January 19, 2021.
Tiffany Trump, whose mother is Marla Maples, graduated with a law degree from Georgetown University in Washington in 2020 and has been lower profile than her half-siblings Donald Jr, Ivanka and Eric.
A spokesman for Trump declined to confirm when he would declare.
He said: “Americans should go vote up and down the ballot for Republicans, and he [Trump] will continue that message.”
At the rally in Iowa, Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Republican congresswoman introducing Trump, criticised Paul Pelosi for not owning a gun.
Pelosi, 82, the husband of Nancy Pelosi, the Democrat House Speaker, suffered a fractured skull when an assailant broke into their home in San Francisco.
Greene told the crowd: “Paul Pelosi should have been a gun owner and shot his attacker.”
