Will Trump announce a presidential run in 2024 at CPAC?

CPAC and the future of Republican politics

Dr. Kelly Smith, PhD, assistant professor of political science at Stetson University, discusses CPAC.

ORLANDO, Fla. - All eyes are on Orlando this weekend as the Conservative Political Action Conference, also known as CPAC, continues. With a number of high-profile conservatives taking the stage, it's all leading up to a speech by former President Donald Trump on Sunday.

Trump is scheduled to speak at 3:40 p.m. The conference is being held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Orlando, which will mark his first public appearance since leaving office more than one month ago. But the question on the minds of Americans is will he announce another run for the presidency in 2024?

In 2019, the former president announced his re-election bid at Orlando's Amway Center, so it's possible he could choose The City Beautiful for his next major announcement.

"Real Time" host Bill Maher weighed in on the possibility.

DeSantis, Cruz headline CPAC Day 2

It is day two of the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, and there are a lot of bigwigs in Orlando, from Governor Ron DeSantis to U.S. Senator Ted Cruz. The governor welcomed everybody to town by highlighting the state's lacks COVID restrictions.

"After he lost, people kept coming up to me and [saying], 'Are you gonna?' and I say, 'He's gone. Stop obsessing. I don't want to talk about him!'" Maher began. "But knowing what's going to happen this weekend at CPAC, I must bring this up. ... The shark is not gone. We need a bigger boat. The shark went out to sea for a while, it's going to come back, and eat more people on the shore."

On Sunday, Trump is expected to use the speech to talk about the future of the Republican Party and the conservative moment, as well as to criticize President Joe Biden’s efforts to undo his immigration policies, according to a person who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the plans.

"Republicans are trying to figure out, as they move ahead: Is this still the party of President Trump, or will new leadership arise to take over after him?" said Aubrey Jewett, professor of political science at the University of Central Florida.

CPAC kicked off on Thursday with number of speakers taking the stage since then, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Senator Rick Scott. On Saturday the line-up will include South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio was scheduled to speak, but pulled out due to a family issue.

"Unfortunately due to an unexpected family issue I was unable to give my speech at @CPAC. I was really looking forward to it," he tweeted. "But as I told @mschlapp they should move #cpac to #Florida permanently."

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