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Former President Donald J. Trump won’t be there. But eight other Republicans hoping to catch him are now set for the first debate of the 2024 presidential primary on Wednesday in Milwaukee, the Republican National Committee announced on Monday night. Ron DeSantis of Florida, who has been Mr. Trump’s leading rival in most polling, and Mr. Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence. Chris Christie of New Jersey, a Trump ally turned antagonist, has secured a spot, as has another vocal Trump opponent, former Gov. Two prominent South Carolina Republicans have also earned places onstage, Senator Tim Scott and Nikki Haley, the former United Nations ambassador.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Ron DeSantis, Trump’s, Mike Pence, Chris Christie, Asa Hutchinson of, Tim Scott, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, Doug Burgum, Biden Organizations: Republican National, South Carolina Republicans, United Nations Locations: Milwaukee, Florida, New Jersey, Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas, North Dakota

Ron DeSantis of Florida began the race for the Republican nomination with high expectations and a clear argument: that he was a political fighter with a solid record of conservative achievements in his state. Now, he appears to be in a downward spiral. Shane Goldmacher, a national political reporter for The Times, explains why the DeSantis campaign is stumbling so badly.

Persons: Ron DeSantis, Shane Goldmacher Organizations: Republican, The Times Locations: Florida

☆ How G.O.P. Views of Biden Are Helping Trump in the Republican Primary
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-20 | by ( Shane Goldmacher | More About Shane Goldmacher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ron DeSantis of Florida has run into a surprising buzz saw in his bid to sell himself as the Republican Party’s most electable standard-bearer in 2024 — and it has more to do with President Biden than it does with Donald J. Trump. For months, Republican voters have consumed such a steady diet of clips of Mr. Biden stumbling, over words and sandbags, that they now see the 80-year-old Democratic incumbent as so frail that he would be beatable by practically any Republican — even a four-times-indicted former president who lost the last election. The focus on “electability” — the basic notion of which candidate has the best shot of winning a general election — was most intense in the aftermath of the disappointing 2022 midterms. Republicans were stung by losses of Trump-backed candidates in key swing states like Arizona, Michigan and Pennsylvania. And the issue offered a way to convince a Republican electorate still very much in the thrall of Mr. Trump to consider throwing its lot in with a fresh face in 2022.

Persons: Ron DeSantis, Biden, Donald J, Mr, —, DeSantis, Trump, thrall Organizations: Republican, Trump Locations: Florida, Arizona , Michigan, Pennsylvania

One of the arguments that the Republican National Committee chairwoman, Ronna McDaniel, made to Mr. Trump that day was that by skipping the debate, he would give President Biden an excuse to get out of debating Mr. Trump should they meet again in 2024, according to two people familiar with their conversation. Mr. Trump apparently disregarded the warning: He told people close to him in recent days that he had made up his mind not to participate in the first debate, though he has not ruled out debates later in the year. Instead, he sat for a taped interview with Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News host, which is expected to be posted online Wednesday. Still, it’s an argument that appealed to a key focus of the Trump campaign as it looks ahead to a possible rematch with Mr. Biden: getting both men onstage. Mr. Trump has repeatedly said publicly that he wants debates with Mr. Biden, and Mr. Trump’s advisers view face-offs with the incumbent president as vital to Mr. Trump’s chances of winning.

Persons: Donald J, Ronna McDaniel, Trump, Biden, Tucker Carlson, Mr, Trump’s Organizations: Republican Party, Republican National, Fox News Locations: Bedminster, N.J

An opposition research memo about the Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy that was written by the super PAC supporting Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida invokes the entrepreneur’s Hindu faith and family visits to India. With six months until the Iowa caucuses, Mr. Ramaswamy has been gaining on Mr. DeSantis in some public polls. In a separate debate strategy memo, Never Back Down officials advised Mr. DeSantis to take a “sledgehammer” to Mr. Ramaswamy in the debate as a way to create a “moment” for media coverage. They suggested that Mr. DeSantis call him “Fake Vivek” or “Vivek the Fake.”

Persons: Vivek Ramaswamy, Ron DeSantis, “ Ramaswamy —, Ramaswamy, DeSantis, Donald J, Vivek ”, Vivek Organizations: Gov, Mr, Trump Locations: Florida, India, America, Iowa

The DeSantis super PAC and campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Notably missing from the debate materials is a document focused on Mr. Trump. The former president, who has said he is unlikely to participate in the debate, is also not among the candidates whose previous attacks against Mr. DeSantis were highlighted by the super PAC, in a preview of what he might expect onstage. Key among the documents is one entitled “Debate Memo,” dated Aug. 15, which cynically describes how Mr. DeSantis — who has been battered by critical coverage and has struggled to capture attention in the face of Mr. Trump’s indictments — could wring the most favorable media attention from the debate. To that end, the memo lists “potential Orchestra Pit Moments,” beginning with one drama-making opportunity, complete with a recommendation for a Trump-style insult: “Take a sledgehammer to Vivek Ramaswamy: ‘Fake Vivek’ Or ‘Vivek the Fake.’”

Persons: Trump, DeSantis, ”, cynically, DeSantis —, Roger Ailes, Vivek Ramaswamy, Vivek Organizations: DeSantis, PAC, Mr, Fox News Locations: Iowa, Hampshire

Early on March 18, former President Donald J. Trump hit send on a social media post saying he would be “arrested on Tuesday of next week.”“Protest,” he wrote on his Truth Social website. “Take our nation back!”Mr. Trump’s prediction was based on media reports, according to his lawyers, and his timing was off by two weeks. Yet the statement set in motion events that profoundly altered the course of the Republican nominating contest. The party apparatus rushed to defend Mr. Trump. These series of falling dominoes — call it the indictment effect — can be measured in ways that reveal much about the state of the Republican Party.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, ”, Donors Organizations: Republican, Fox News, Mr, Republican Party, New York Times

☆ Run for the White House 2024 Trump and DeSantis will be circling each other at the Iowa State Fair. Our reporters are there to bring you the latest.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-12 | by ( Shane Goldmacher | Nicholas Nehamas | Anjali Huynh | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

00:00:06.860 —> 00:00:09.320 I kind of felt like, why are you making me choose 00:00:09.320 —> 00:00:10.760 between these two people? 00:01:04.410 —> 00:01:05.800 We’re not getting younger voters. 00:01:13.540 —> 00:01:15.270 ”If the choice is Trump-Biden, 00:01:15.270 —> 00:01:18.020 you guys, 100 percent —“ ”Oh, 100 percent Trump. Yep.“ 00:01:18.020 —> 00:01:21.600 I would bite my tongue and go ahead and vote for Trump 00:01:21.600 —> 00:01:22.740 again. 00:01:22.740 —> 00:01:25.770 Would vote Biden again just for our two-party 00:01:25.770 —> 00:01:26.830 political system 00:01:26.830 —> 00:01:29.440 that kind of doesn’t give us very many options.

Persons: Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Biden, we’ve Organizations: Biden, Trump, Fair Locations: Iowa

☆ Trump and DeSantis Take On the Iowa State Fair, and Each Other
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-12 | by ( Shane Goldmacher | More About Shane Goldmacher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ron DeSantis of Florida will arrive at the Iowa State Fair on Saturday, a convergence of the two leading Republican presidential candidates that will highlight the busiest day of state politicking amid farm animals, corn dogs and oversize lemonades. Mr. Trump, who famously brought a helicopter to the fair in 2015 and gave children rides during his first primary campaign, is flying to Iowa for a single day of campaigning. In an effort to poke his leading rival, he is bringing along a host of prominent Florida Republicans who have endorsed him over Mr. DeSantis. Mr. DeSantis, who replaced his campaign manager earlier in the week, is focused on turning around his political fortunes in Iowa. He has spent two full days campaigning in the state ahead of the fair and ticking off visits to more of Iowa’s 99 counties, all of which he has pledged to visit.

Persons: Donald J, Ron DeSantis, Trump, DeSantis Organizations: Trump, Gov, Fair, Florida Republicans Locations: Florida, Iowa

Mr. Garland, who made the announcement at the Justice Department’s headquarters in Washington, said David C. Weiss, the U.S. attorney in Delaware, who has handled the case for years, would become the special counsel. The move comes seven months after Mr. Garland appointed Robert K. Hur to be a special counsel investigating whether President Biden has mishandled classified documents. Mr. Garland said he made the decision to elevate Mr. Weiss after the prosecutor informed him on Tuesday the investigation had “reached the stage” where the powers of a special counsel were necessary to continue. Mr. Garland said Mr. Weiss would have the authority to investigate all related matters in his inquiry and might bring charges in any jurisdiction. The appointment on Friday all but ensures that a yearslong investigation into a wide array of conduct in Hunter Biden’s life — including his foreign business dealings, drug use and taxes — will continue.

Persons: Thrush, Luke Broadwater, General Merrick B, Garland, Biden’s, Hunter, Justice Department’s, David C, Weiss, Robert K, Hur, Biden, “, Donald J, Trump’s, Chris Cameron Organizations: Justice, Privately Locations: Washington, U.S, Delaware

☆ Run for the White House 2024 More food, speeches and candidates not named Trump at the Iowa State Fair. Our reporters are there to bring you the latest.
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( Lisa Lerer | Shane Goldmacher | Neil Vigdor | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Former Vice President Mike Pence is one of several Republican candidates who have been struggling to break into the top tier of the nomination race. Credit... Haiyun Jiang for The New York Times

Persons: Mike Pence, Haiyun Jiang Organizations: The New York

Donald J. Trump’s legal problems aren’t just piling up — his legal bills are, too. The total amounts to more than $27 million in legal fees and other investigation-related bills in the first six months of 2023, according to a New York Times analysis of federal records. The new disclosures revealed the remarkable degree to which Mr. Trump’s political and legal cash are intermingled, much like his own political and legal fate. Mr. Trump’s complex political orbit is already spending more than it is taking in, and tapping into money it raised years ago — an unusual trajectory this far out from an election. And the burn rate raises questions about whether such an approach is untenable, or whether Mr. Trump will eventually need to dip into his own fortune to pay for his lawyers, his 2024 campaign or both.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, billings Organizations: PAC, New York Times, D.C Locations: New York , Florida, Washington

But the move has other effects, including obscuring exactly how many — or how few — online donations Mr. DeSantis has received. News emerged on Tuesday that Mr. DeSantis had replaced his campaign manager as part of a broad shake-up. “To me, the single most important aspect of the transparent philosophical debate is: Is somebody buying influence?” Mr. Mackowiak said. “You’re not going to buy anyone with a $200 or less donation.”Until recent years, he noted, small donations were never broken out in federal campaign finance disclosures. In a sense — and to the all but certain dismay of those who push for transparency — the move by the DeSantis campaign suggests a return to a previous era when those contributions remained anonymous.

Persons: DeSantis, Matt Mackowiak, ”, Mackowiak, “ You’re Locations: Texas

Ms. Peck, who will stay on as the campaign’s chief strategist, had drawn heavy criticism from Mr. DeSantis’s allies and donors after heavy spending led to a fund-raising shortfall. In response, the campaign had to lay off more than a third of its staff and start holding smaller events — a leaner operation more suited to a candidate who is trailing well behind Mr. Trump. Still, the successive rounds of changes have been an enduring distraction for Mr. DeSantis’s campaign. In 2022, Ms. Peck, 36, oversaw Mr. DeSantis’s overwhelming re-election as governor, making herself an invaluable confidante to the governor and his wife, Casey. Mr. Uthmeier, a member of the Federalist Society, the conservative legal group, served as general counsel to the governor and in the Trump administration.

Persons: Peck, DeSantis’s, Trump, Casey, Uthmeier, Jones, “ James Uthmeier, Generra Peck, Joe Biden, ” Andrew Romeo Organizations: Federalist Society Locations: Washington

“You’re too honest,” Mr. Trump told him. Mr. Pence met with federal prosecutors this year and appears to have cooperated with them by describing the discussions he had with Mr. Trump between the election and Jan. 6. For months, Mr. Pence has maintained that “history will hold Donald Trump accountable” for his actions on Jan. 6. After repeating on Tuesday that Mr. Trump should never again be president, Mr. Pence added that he had not yet “reviewed” the indictment and reserved further comment for when he had. Mr. Pence is still cautious when criticizing a man who retains the intense loyalty of the party’s base, but he also wants to beat him for the Republican nomination.

Persons: “, Mr, Trump, Pence, Donald Trump, ”, Trump’s Organizations: Mr, Republican

Mr. Smith is not the first special counsel to investigate Mr. Trump. Mr. Smith, by contrast, faces no such limits given that Mr. Trump is no longer in office. Mr. Mueller said little when faced with a barrage of falsehoods pushed publicly by Mr. Trump and his allies about him and his investigative team. During Mr. Trump’s arraignment in Miami in June, Mr. Smith sat in the gallery, closely watching the proceedings. Some in the courtroom suggested he stared at Mr. Trump for much of the hearing, sizing him up.

Persons: General Merrick B, Garland, Jack Smith’s, Donald J, Trump, Smith, Maddie McGarvey, The New York Times “, ”, Ryan Goodman, Trump’s, Robert S, Mueller, Smith —, —, Goodman, Smith “, Edgar Hoover, Mueller III, Anna Moneymaker, Ted Stevens, “, Robert McDonnell, Rick Renzi, James, Smith’s, Jay I, Bratt, Cooney, Robert Menendez, Greg Craig, Obama, Andrew G, McCabe, Roger J, Stone Jr, William P, Barr, Aaron Zelinsky, Thomas P, Windom, Peter Dejong Mr, John H ., Carlos F, legwork, sotto, intently, Alan Feuer Organizations: White, The New York Times, New York University School of Law, Capitol, Washington, Department, Just Security, Trump, U.S, New York Times, Justice Department, Justice, Republican, Supreme, Mr, Department of Justice, Democrats, Robert Menendez of New, Hague, Credit, House Republicans, U.S . Postal Inspection Service Locations: Washington, The Hague, Russia, Alaska, Virginia, Arizona, Robert Menendez of, Robert Menendez of New Jersey, U.S, Netherlands, John H . Durham, ’, Miami

Mr. DeSantis and his allies, however, are testing the limits of the campaign finance system. The filings showed that the super PAC had received donations of more than $1 million from just seven wealthy Republicans, or firms connected to them. One of those donors, Saul Fox, also gave money to a super PAC supporting Mr. Trump. The super PAC did not reach $30 million until almost two months later, the week that Mr. DeSantis formally became a presidential candidate. When Mr. DeSantis’s super PAC made the earlier claim about its fund-raising, the money raised came primarily from a single megadonor, Robert Bigelow, a real estate and aerospace mogul from Las Vegas.

Persons: DeSantis, DeSantis’s, Saul Fox, Trump, Robert Bigelow Organizations: PAC, Mr, DeSantis’s Locations: Iowa, Las Vegas

The dwindling cash reserves in Mr. Trump’s PAC, called Save America, have fallen to such levels that the group has made the highly unusual request of a $60 million refund of a donation it had previously sent to a pro-Trump super PAC. This money had been intended for television commercials to help Mr. Trump’s candidacy, but as he is the dominant front-runner for the Republican nomination in 2024, his most immediate problems appear to be legal, not political. The super PAC, which is called Make America Great Again Inc., has already sent back $12.25 million to the group paying Mr. Trump’s legal bills, according to federal records — a sum nearly as large as the $13.1 million the super PAC raised from donors in the first half of 2023. Those donations included $1 million from the father of his son-in-law, Charles Kushner, whom Mr. Trump pardoned for federal crimes in his final days as president, and $100,000 from a candidate seeking Mr. Trump’s endorsement. The extraordinary shift of money from the super PAC to Mr. Trump’s political committee, described in federal campaign filings as a refund, is believed to be larger than any other refund on record in the history of federal campaigns.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Trump’s, Charles Kushner Organizations: Trump’s PAC, Trump, Republican, PAC, Inc, Mr

☆ Trump Crushing DeSantis and G.O.P. Rivals, Times/Siena Poll Finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( Shane Goldmacher | More About Shane Goldmacher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Former President Donald J. Trump is dominating his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination, leading his nearest challenger, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, by a landslide 37 percentage points nationally among the likely Republican primary electorate, according to the first New York Times/Siena College poll of the 2024 campaign. The poll shows that some of Mr. DeSantis’s central campaign arguments — that he is more electable than Mr. Trump, and that he would govern more effectively — have so far failed to break through. Even Republicans motivated by the type of issues that have fueled Mr. DeSantis’s rise, such as fighting “radical woke ideology,” favored the former president. Overall, Mr. Trump led Mr. DeSantis 54 percent to 17 percent.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Ron DeSantis, DeSantis’s, ” Organizations: Republican, Gov, New York Times, Siena College Locations: Florida

Former President Donald J. Trump’s team is creating a legal-defense fund to handle some of the crush of legal bills stemming from the investigations and criminal indictments involving him and a number of employees and associates, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. The fund, which is expected to be called the Patriot Legal Defense Fund Inc., will be led by Michael Glassner, a longtime Trump political adviser, according to the people familiar with the planning, who were not authorized to discuss it publicly. Another Trump aide who worked at the Trump Organization and then in Mr. Trump’s administration, Lynne Patton, will also be involved, the people said. It is unclear how broad a group of people the legal-defense fund will cover, but one person said it was not expected to cover Mr. Trump’s own legal bills. In recent months Mr. Trump’s political action committee has paid legal bills for him and several witnesses, spending over $40 million on lawyers in the first half of 2023.

Persons: Donald J, Michael Glassner, Trump, Lynne Patton, Trump’s Organizations: Patriot Legal Defense Fund Inc, Trump Organization, Trump

The political action committee that has been paying former President Donald J. Trump’s legal fees requested a refund on a $60 million contribution it made to the super PAC supporting the Republican front-runner, according to two people familiar with the matter. The decision of Mr. Trump’s political team to ask for a refund of money that was meant to help his 2024 campaign, and was instead diverted to an account paying his legal bills, is extraordinary. It reflects the choice to spend precious donor cash on lawyers rather than on television advertising in the early months. But the refund was sought as the political action committee, Save America, spent more than $40 million in legal fees incurred by Mr. Trump and witnesses in various legal cases related to him this year alone, according to another person familiar with the matter. The numbers will be part of the Save America Federal Election Commission filing that is expected to be made public late on Monday.

Persons: Donald J, Trump Organizations: Republican, Save, Mr, Commission Locations: Save America

☆ Trump and DeSantis Collide for First Time in Iowa, as Fortunes Diverge
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-29 | by ( Shane Goldmacher | More About Shane Goldmacher | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ron DeSantis of Florida shared the same stage at an Iowa Republican Party dinner on Friday, their appearances seemed to capture the basic dynamics of the 2024 presidential primary. Mr. Trump played headliner. Mr. DeSantis was reduced to an opening act. Even as Mr. Trump has been hit with two criminal indictments, with more possibly coming, he has only consolidated support in recent months, flashing the same resilience in Iowa that he has nationally. Mr. Trump’s rivals have long circled Iowa as the early state where Mr. Trump, who finished a disappointing second in the 2016 Iowa caucuses, might be most vulnerable in 2024.

Persons: Donald J, Ron DeSantis, Trump, DeSantis Organizations: Trump, Gov, Iowa Republican Party Locations: Florida, Iowa

But Mr. Trump’s legal troubles could still provide an opening for one of his rivals. officer, dared to mention the charges, and he also contradicted Mr. Trump’s false assertion that he had won the 2020 election. “One of the things we need in our elected leaders is for them to tell the truth, even if it’s unpopular,” Mr. Hurd said. Donald Trump is not running for president to represent the people that voted for him in 2016 or 2020. Donald Trump us running to stay out of prison.”The vast majority of the crowd did not agree.

Persons: Asa Hutchinson of, ”, Hutchinson, Trump, cowed, Hurd, ” Mr, “ Donald Trump, Donald Trump Organizations: “ Locations: Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas, Iowa

On the day his presidential campaign said it had laid off more than a third of its staff to address worries about unsustainable spending, Gov. The choice was a routine one — Mr. DeSantis and his wife, Casey, haven’t regularly flown commercial for years — but also symbolic to close observers of his struggling presidential campaign. As Mr. DeSantis promises a reset, setting out on Thursday on a bus tour in Iowa to show off a leaner, hungrier operation, several donors and allies remained skeptical about whether the governor could right the ship. Their bleak outlook reflects a deep mistrust plaguing the highest levels of the DeSantis campaign, as well as its supporters and the well-funded super PAC, Never Back Down, bolstering his presidential ambitions. Publicly, the parties are projecting a stoic sunniness about Mr. DeSantis, even as he has sunk dangerously close to third place in some recent polls.

Persons: Ron DeSantis, DeSantis, Casey, haven’t Organizations: Gov, Publicly Locations: Florida, Chattanooga, Tenn, Iowa

On Tuesday, Mr. DeSantis was on a three-stop fund-raising swing through Tennessee when his four-car motorcade had a pileup after traffic suddenly slowed. On Thursday, Mr. DeSantis is set to return to Iowa for two days of events and his first bus trip in the state. His main super PAC is doing so instead, inviting Mr. DeSantis as a “special guest.”The payroll reduction came on the heels of a donor retreat in Park City, Utah, where Mr. DeSantis convened about 70 top supporters. They enjoyed s’mores on the deck and cocktails as campaign officials and super PAC advisers made presentations about the state of the race. Instead, they focused on the notion that they were steadying the ship, making adjustments and trying to find ways to help Mr. DeSantis spread his message.

Persons: Ethan Eilon, Carl Sceusa, DeSantis Organizations: PAC Locations: Tallahassee, Tennessee, Iowa, Park City , Utah

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