Poll: 64% of Republicans would leave GOP for new third party founded by Trump



Most Republicans would quit the GOP and join a hypothetical third party started by former President Donald Trump, a new Hill-HarrisX poll finds.

According to the survey, 64% of registered Republicans said they would join a new political party if Trump founded one. No less than 32% said they would be "very likely" to join a Trump party.

Just 36% of Republicans opposed leaving the GOP for a party founded by Trump.

But it's not just Republicans who could be swayed to a third-party movement. The survey found 28% of self-identified independents and 15% of Democrats said they would be likely to join a Trump party.

Overall, 37% of voters said if Trump starts a new political party, they'd be likely to join.

Since leaving the presidency, Trump has reportedly floated the idea of forming a "Patriot Party" to galvanize his remaining supporters into a movement that could challenge the two-party dominance of American politics.

In his farewell address, Trump said that the movement that put him in the White House four years ago was "only just beginning."

"As I prepare to hand power over to a new administration at noon on Wednesday, I want you to know that the movement we started is only just beginning," he said. "There's never been anything like it. The belief that a nation must serve its citizens will not dwindle but instead only grow stronger by the day. As long as the American people hold in their hearts deep and devoted love of country, then there is nothing this nation cannot achieve."

In his final speech as president at Joint Base Andrews, Trump promised, "We will be back in some form."

Though support for Trump to run for president again in 2024 has dropped 20 points since December, according to a survey from Echelon Insights, the Hill-HarrisX poll suggests Trump still holds large sway with many Republican voters.

"These numbers show that despite the Capitol riots Trump remains a political force to be reckoned with. He benefits from a diverse base of support making up over a third of voters, voters who are attracted to him on a number of issues that are yet to be properly addressed by, and coopted by, Democratic and Republican elites," Dritan Nesho, CEO and chief pollster at HarrisX, told Hill.TV.

"If Trump were to split from the GOP and create his own party, polling suggests he might well create the second largest political party in the country, knocking the GOP down to third place," Nesho added.

The Hill-HarrisX poll was an online survey of 945 registered voters with 340 respondents self-identifying as Republicans. It has a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points.

Trump told me he wants to run again, says former acting national intelligence director Richard Grenell



Former President Donald Trump wants to run for the presidency again in 2024, according to a top ally who served in multiple roles in his administration.

"He's told me personally, multiple times, that he does want to run again," said Richard Grenell, who served as the ambassador to Germany and acting director of national intelligence during the Trump administration, during an appearance on Newsmax Saturday night.

"We'll see if that holds and how that goes about," he added, noting there is a "long way to go."

The news comes as questions circulate about Trump's future plans after losing his re-election bid to Democratic President Joe Biden last November despite receiving the most votes ever for an incumbent candidate.

Trump has been keeping his cards close to his chest regarding what his next moves will be, though he has teased running again in 2024 and reportedly is considering the launch of a new political party, called the Patriot Party, in doing so.

Grenell quickly shot down the idea Saturday, saying, "No, we should not start the Patriot Party. We should work very hard on the Republican Party."

"Clearly, Donald Trump is a Republican and should run again as a Republican," he later added.

Far from offering specifics, in his first comments to reporters since leaving the White House on Jan. 20, Trump said Saturday, "We'll do something — but not just yet."

Though support for Trump among elected officials in the party has fractured a bit of late, especially in the wake of the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, his strong support among Republican voters has held rather firm.

Republican pollster Frank Luntz released results from a survey he conducted after the Capitol riot showing that 91% of GOP voters would still vote for Trump if a repeat election were to be held. The number went down considerably when respondents were asked about 2024, though 51% still suggested he run again.

The option, however, may be taken from him in short order.

After getting impeached for a second time by the Democratic-led House of Representatives for supposedly inciting the riot at the Capitol, Trump will now face a Senate impeachment trial and potentially a vote in the chamber that could bar him from running for office again.

CNN’s Jim Acosta on Trump’s possible future plans: ‘I do think Trump is going to lead at least a fringe movement in this country’



CNN's Jim Acosta says that former President Donald Trump will likely continue to lead a movement across the United States despite no longer being commander in chief.

What are the details?

During a Sunday appearance on CNN's "Reliable Sources," Acosta told Brian Stelter that he believes the former president's quietude since leaving the White House is only transitory and signifies more to come.

"I think it is temporary," he told Stelter, according to a report from the network. "The populist political forces that sent Trump to the White House 'have the potential to come back in the days to come.'"

"I do think Trump is going to lead at least a fringe movement in this country," Acosta added.

Elsewhere during the discussion, Acosta warned that the former president — who he referred to as "lord of the lies" — should not yet be counted out.

"While he's still licking his wounds down in Mar-a-Lago, he poses a threat to this country," Acosta explained. "This is not a time to put away our fact-checkers in some sort of box on a shelf. They're going to be needed to fact-check this movement. Trump may be going away, but Trumpism is not."

Trump's final days in office

Acosta, who heavily covered the Trump White House during the former president's administration, said that Trump spent his final days in office alone.

The outlet reported that the former president "greeted a small crowd of about 200 at Joint Base Andrews before he boarded Air Force One with family and the press, including Acosta."

"It was sort of a sad and pathetic sight," Acosta told Stelter. "I've never see him this alone the entire time he was at the level of presidential politics."

Of the former president's final days, Acosta said, "Essentially what we saw was the undoing of the Trump presidency. What we saw the president build over the course of four or five years out on the campaign trail and over at the White House just sort of unraveled at the end."

What else?

Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump is looking to form his own political party, dubbed "The Patriot Party."

Having reportedly spoken to confidantes and aides preceding his White House departure, Trump is said to believe that many Republicans abandoned him following the early January attack on the U.S. Capitol.

"Trump discussed the matter with several aides and other people close to him last week," the outlet reported. "The president said he would want to call the new party the 'Patriot Party,' the people said."

In a Tuesday farewell video, Trump said that his movement is "only just beginning."

"As I prepare to hand power over to a new administration at noon on Wednesday, I want you to know that the movement we started is only just beginning," he said. "There's never been anything like it. The belief that a nation must serve its citizens will not dwindle but instead only grow stronger by the day. As long as the American people hold in their hearts deep and devoted love of country, then there is nothing this nation cannot achieve."

In his final speech as president, Trump at Joint Base Andrews said, "We will be back in some form."

Donald Trump breaks silence for first time since leaving White House, teases future plans



Former President Donald Trump held his cards close to his chest Friday when asked about post-White House plans.

What are the details?

While dining with friends at the Trump International Golf Club, a Washington Examiner reporter asked Trump about his future plans. Trump did not reveal much — but confirmed something is in the pipeline.

"We'll do something — but not just yet," Trump said.

According to the Examiner, "Those marked his first words to a journalist since he left the White House on Wednesday and flew to Florida." However, the interaction was quickly cut short by one of Trump's assistants, the Examiner reported.

Trump departed Washington, D.C., early Wednesday morning ahead of President Joe Biden's inauguration for Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach residence. Trump spent his first days out of office meeting with friends and playing golf.

What could Trump's plans be?

The now-former president made it clear after the election that he intended to maintain his powerful political presence even if his legal efforts to challenge the legitimacy of Biden's presidential victory did not pan out in his favor. Trump has even teased a 2024 campaign.

Meanwhile, in a farewell video released on Tuesday, Trump said that his movement was "only just beginning." And, while speaking prior to departing Joint Base Andrews Wednesday morning, Trump vowed, "We will be back in some form."

In fact, Trump's return to political prominence may be through his own political party, an idea he recently floated, as TheBlaze reported.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Trump felt abandoned by some Republicans following the deadly riots at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, which resulted in the House voting to impeach Trump for a second time. Every Democrat supported the impeachment effort, and they were joined by 10 Republicans.

Sources who spoke with the Wall Street Journal said Trump may call the new party the "Patriot Party."

"Trump discussed the matter with several aides and other people close to him last week," the Journal reported. "The president said he would want to call the new party the 'Patriot Party,' the people said."

Still, one Trump friend told Politico earlier in January that he does not believe Trump will run for president again — though that won't stop Trump from teasing supporters that he will.

"I think nothing is going to happen," the Trump friend said. "He won't be around in 2024. He's not going to run. He's going to f*** around and say he's going to run. … He'll tease. I don't think he's ever going to say 'I won't run.' He just won't run."