In his first speech since Democrat Joe Biden became president; Donald Trump had hinted that he might run for office again in 2024.
In this context, Trump has said that he has no plans to launch a new political party, telling a conservative conference in Florida that it would split the Republican vote.
Mr. Trump strongly criticized his successor, saying that US policy had gone from “America first to America last”.
The speech comes weeks after Mr. Trump was acquitted in an impeachment trial.
His appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando (on Sunday) represented his continued influence over the Republican Party.
The mood of the conference which began on Thursday has been extremely pro-Trump, with loyalists including Texas Senator Ted Cruz and his son Donald Trump Jr among the speakers. Trump also slammed the Joe Biden administration, saying that it was “anti-jobs” and “anti-science”.
The former president remains banned from social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter, over his response to January’s deadly riot at the US Capitol.
Trump has been living at his Mar-a-Lago Florida golf resort since leaving the White House.
The 74-year-old former president was cheered by supporters when he appeared on stage at the Hyatt Regency Hotel more than an hour late. Many people in the crowd were not wearing masks.
“I stand before you today to declare that the incredible journey we began together four years ago is far from over,” he said.
He also added, “We are gathered this afternoon to talk about the future – the future of our movement, the future of our party, and the future of our beloved country.”
He dismissed any idea that he might start a new political party – describing rumours he would do so as “fake news”.
“Wouldn’t that be brilliant? Let’s start a new party so we can divide our vote and never win,” he joked.
He also added, “We have the Republican Party. It is going to unite and be stronger than ever before.”
Despite losing November’s presidential election and being deeply criticized over the January riot, reports suggest that Mr. Trump remains extremely popular among his voting base.
Last week one US poll suggested that 46% of surveyed Trump voters would vote for him if he left the Republicans and started his own party.
In his CPAC speech, Mr. Trump repeated his false claims that he lost November’s election to the Democrats because of electoral fraud and he hinted at another run in 2024, saying, “Actually you know they just lost the White House. But who knows – who knows? I may even decide to beat them for a third time, OK?”
He excoriated the new administration, criticizing Mr. Biden for reversing his hard-line postures & actions on immigration and border security.
“We all knew that the Biden administration was going to be bad but none of us even imagined just how bad they would be and how far left they would go,” he told the cheering crowd.
“We will take back the House. We will win the Senate and then a Republican president would triumph the White House. I wonder, who that will be,” he said amidst cheers from his supporters at the annual session of the Conservative Political Action Committee in Orlando, Florida.
Though 74-year-old Trump multiple times in his speech stopped short of announcing that he will run for president in 2024, he gave enough indications that he is moving in that direction.
China’s take on Trump
Meanwhile, Chinese netizens joked that they miss Trump and are ‘fully prepared’ if he returns in 2024. Chinese experts said that whether or not Trump returns in 2024 depends on many factors, such as his taxes and other financial matters, and the performance of Joe Biden’s administration. No matter what happens in 2024, even if Trump or Trumpism returns, China is fully prepared, they said.
Lü Xiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, told the daily Chinese tabloid newspaper Global Times on Monday that, “For the good of the rest of the world, we hope the US could stay rational, decent and calm, not nonsensical and crazy.”
Biden administration undecided over visa issue
On Monday, the Biden administration has indicated that it is still undecided on ending the Trump-era ban on issuing new H-1B visas. Homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas asserted that right now the top priority of the administration is the acute needs of people fleeing persecution.
