Trump to unveil campaign team in South Carolina

Former President Trump will unveil his campaign team later this month at an event in South Carolina, his first major event of the calendar year as the 2024 presidential election season approaches. 

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said Trump will visit South Carolina later this month but did not immediately provide additional details. Trump has only appeared at invite-only events at his Mar-a-Lago property in Palm Beach, Fla., or virtual events since declaring his candidacy for the White House in November. 

Three senior Trump advisers told Politico, which first reported the news of Trump’s plans, that he will make his announcement at an “intimate” event in Columbia, S.C., part of a gradual development of the campaign. 

Trump has run a mostly low-key campaign since making his announcement at Mar-a-Lago on Nov. 15, one week after the GOP’s disappointing performance in the midterm elections. He has not held the large rallies that became a hallmark of both his 2016 and 2020 campaigns and much of his presidency. 

Some Republicans, including allies of Trump’s, criticized his campaign announcement for being “low-energy” and boring. Others praised it for a calmer, more measured tone than is typically seen at many of his rallies. 

The Hill has reached out to Cheung for additional information. 

The three advisers, Brian Jack, Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles, argued that Trump has not run a low-energy campaign, noting that he has opened a campaign headquarters in West Palm Beach, was active in key primary states during the midterms and has started building up senior staff. 

LaCavita said not all parts of a campaign are “done in the public eye.” 

“You have to husband your resources, you have to plan and you have to be ready, and so all of that — we don’t advertise those aspects of campaign building, of campaign organizing,” he said. 

The advisers did not tell Politico when Trump will continue his rallies but said holding them this early in the campaign season did not make sense. 

Multiple other high-profile Republicans have indicated they are or are rumored to be considering their own runs for the presidency despite Trump’s announcement. 

They include Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (Fla.), who has seen his support in hypothetical GOP polls grow since the midterms, and two of South Carolina’s top Republicans. Nikki Haley, a former governor and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, has said she would consider whether to run over the holiday season, and Sen. Tim Scott has visited other early voting states in recent months. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.