Former president Trump announces another White House run, Rep. Tom Emmer chosen as GOP whip

Donald Trump has made it official.

At his Mar-a-Lago Estate Tuesday night, he announced he’s launching a campaign to take back the White House in 2024.

“In order to make America great and glorious again, I am tonight announcing my candidacy for president of the United States,” Trump said.

RELATED: Trump seeks White House again amid GOP losses, legal probes

“Donald Trump gets an idea and he doesn’t let go of it,” says Larry Jacobs, a University of Minnesota politics professor. “Donald Trump’s gut is telling him he’s got to jump in now.”

He says for Trump, this is about being the first to announce he’s running— and to capitalize on his core supporters.

“About 30% of the Republican primary voters continue to support him— and enthusiastically,” Jacobs notes. “One candidate with a solid thirty to thirty-five percent of the primary voting electorate is a big advantage.”

But Hamline University political science professor David Schultz says Trump has disadvantages, too.

He says the former president will need to make a political pivot— including in Minnesota.  

“He didn’t have the best mid-term election. He shifts the discussion away from that to his candidacy,” Schultz explains. “The two candidates that he endorsed in Minnesota, Scott Jensen and Kim Crockett, did the worst of all the Republicans running for statewide office.”

Both men say Trump faces several potential high-profile rivals— including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence— who gave his take in an exclusive interview with ABC News Monday night.

Anchor David Muir asked him if Trump should ever be president again.  

“David, I think that’s up to the American people,” Pence responded. “But I think we’ll have better choices in the future.”

Even as these possible rivalries begin to heat up, a Republican from Minnesota now has the job of unifying MAGA republicans and moderate republicans in the House of Representatives.

Republicans have yet to officially secure a majority in the house— but Representative Tom Emmer has been elected to the number three spot as the GOP whip.

RELATED: Minnesota 6th District Rep. Emmer voted GOP whip

According to the House of Representatives website, majority whips are ‘responsible for assisting the party leadership in bringing the party’s bills to the House floor, maintaining communication between the leadership and its members, counting votes on key legislation, and persuading members to vote for the party position.’  

“Excited to be in the majority,” Emmer told reporters. “It’s been four long years.”

He also tweeted, “It is an honor to be entrusted by my colleagues with the role of majority whip. Now the hard work begins. It’s time to unite our conference and deliver on our promises to the American people.”

“This is a pinnacle,” Jacobs declares. “There is no Minnesotan who’s risen this high, at least in the modern era.”

He says Emmer will now be in a position to potentially direct money and projects to Minnesota.

Jacobs also adds this puts Emmer on a path toward becoming House speaker— ‘a seat at the table’ in his words.

Schultz says that influence could reap dividends for Minnesota.  

“It could mean dollars for Minnesota,” he says. “He could bring home some stuff for his constituents to the state. But it gives the state a voice.”

Schultz says Trump’s biggest challenge will be to expand his core base.  

“He’s got to show up,” he says. “He’s got to figure out a way of speaking to the white working class, but his real challenge is broadening beyond that core base, especially after the 2022 midterms.”

Democrats, meanwhile— are responding to Trump’s announcement.

Senator Amy Klobuchar tweeted that democracy prevailed the day of the attack on the Capitol, saying “we will not go backwards and descend into chaos again.”

The Minnesota DFL Party says “Minnesota rejected Donald Trump’s failed leadership, hateful rhetoric, and dangerous lies twice already, and we’ll reject him a third time if we need to.”

“I think we’re going to see a whole lot of Donald Trump in Minnesota,” Jacobs says. “He sees us as a state we can win the primary in, and that he can go on and win in the general election in 2024. The challenge for Trump is how he makes the case that he will move America forward in the future.”