Trump Holds High Profile Secret Dinners To Discuss 2024 Presidential Comeback

Former President Donald Trump has been holding secret dinners with high-profile supporters to discuss his plans for a possible 2024 presidential bid, according to a report.

Over the past weeks, Trump has held intimate gatherings in Houston, Nashville and Las Vegas where he and his supporters have discussed the former president’s plans to run for the presidency again in the 2024 election, including when he should make an official announcement about his comeback, four people who attended the dinners told POLITICO.

Phil Ruffin, a billionaire casino mogul and close Trump ally, has implored the former president to make the announcement soon. However, other guests have urged Trump to wait until after the midterm elections have concluded, the report said.

Each of the informal, off-the-record dinners were attended by around 12 to 16 Republican candidates, elected officials and major GOP contributors invited by Trump’s aides. The most recent dinner was held in Las Vegas on Friday at the Trump International Hotel, with Nevada gubernatorial hopeful Joe Lombardo and real estate investors Robert Zarnegin and Roger Norman attending the event.

According to the report, Zarnegin and Norman each gave six- to seven-figure donations to Trump’s campaign in 2020. However, Trump advisers who spoke to the publication said they were not asking guests for donations at the moment. Instead, the dinners served as a way for Trump to get feedback. Most attendees have reportedly encouraged the former president to focus more on policy amid his continued efforts to push the baseless claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him.

News about Trump's intimate dinner events comes after the New York Times on Tuesday published a survey showing that more than half of Republican voters are now looking for someone else to become the party’s presidential candidate in the 2024 election.

Earlier this week, the House Select Committee, during its seventh public hearing, revealed evidence showing how Trump planned to call his supporters to march to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The panel also showed a message from former president’s ex-campaign manager Brad Parscalehe where he said that Trump was “asking for civil war.” The message was sent to former Trump campaign spokesperson Katrina Pierson when the Jan. 6 Capitol riot was unfolding.