“Donald Trump said on Saturday that he would not drop out of the 2024 presidential race if he was indicted in one of several investigations he is facing,” the New York Times reports.

Said Trump: “Oh absolutely. I wouldn’t even think about leaving.”

Semafor: “During the speech, Trump focused in part on Social Security, which he’s been vocal about vowing to protect in recent weeks. In particular, he appeared to target Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, one of his potential opponents, over the topic.”

Said Trump: “Somebody’s running around … and they’re not going to announce what they’re doing. I assume they’re running, right? And I said there’s no way we will allow them back to attack Social Security. There’s no way we will allow them — because a certain person wanted to attack Social Security and Medicare. They wanted to raise the minimum age to 70 … we’re going to take care of our Social Security people.”

He added: “And you know, the one thing I’ve learned about politics: If there’s an early inclination — if somebody wants to cut Social Security, eventually, if they’re in a position of power, they’ll bring it back.”

NBC News: “Trump, in his nearly two-hour speech, also called for Republicans to once and for all renounce the George W. Bush-era conservatism that preceded his rise in politics — a rebuke of a GOP establishment that has signaled interest in moving on from Trump.”

“I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution.”

— Donald Trump, in a speech at CPAC.

Donald Trump easily won the Conservative Political Action Conference’s closely watched straw poll on Saturday, notching a symbolic win among the Republican grassroots as he seeks to reclaim the White House in 2024, The Hill reports.

Trump won with 62 percent, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) got 20 percent.

“You’re going to get smoked by Trump.”

— Gov. Gavin Newsom, quoted by Politico, in a statement issued ahead of a planned speech by Gov. Ron DeSantis at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

Playbook: “Today, in a speech at a private Club for Growth donor retreat in Florida, presidential hopeful Nikki Haley will take a major swing at her party over government spending, raising the temperature of the 2024 race by turning her fire at Donald Trump and GOP lawmakers (though without naming any of them explicitly).”

“Haley will say it’s not just Democrats who are to blame for the exploding national debt, but Republicans.”

Said Haley: “Don’t let the media tell you Republicans and Democrats can’t work together. They always seem to work just fine when they’re spending your money.”

New York Times: “After a fitful start, the Trump operation is now actively preparing for the possibility of a drawn-out 2024 primary. That means laying the groundwork to compete in a potential fight over delegates that could extend deep into next year. And it means shadowboxing with his ascendant but not-yet-official challenger, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, over donors and endorsements from inside their shared home state and beyond.”

“This is grunt work Mr. Trump was slow to undertake in his celebrity-powered, but scattershot, campaign in 2016. In 2020, he used his incumbency to scare off any serious challenges.”

“On the third time around, the Trump campaign’s focus on the traditional nuts and bolts is an acknowledgment of the race’s expected competitiveness.”

“Marianne Williamson, the self-help author and spiritual adviser, launched her 2024 presidential campaign Saturday in an unlikely space: Union Station, the Washington, D.C., transportation hub where commuters catch Amtrak and metro trains,” NBC News reports.

“Throughout much of her announcement speech, Williamson railed against economic inequality and the U.S. governing system, which she called ‘intrinsically corrupt.’”

“Former President Donald Trump is intensifying his courtship of influential GOP figures in key primary states – this time, over steaks and ice cream at his Mar-a-Lago club,” Politico reports.

“Trump spent Thursday night wooing over a dozen leaders of the Nevada Republican Party, his first outreach to a state that is expected to be among the first to hold its nominating contest. According to two people present, the former president spent nearly three hours peppering the party officials with questions about the Nevada political landscape, previewing his weekend speech at the CPAC conference and telling his guests that he plans to visit the state in the next few months.”

Washington Post: “Smith’s pace appears to be quickening as the 2024 presidential election starts to take shape, with Trump once again a candidate and President Biden — Garland’s boss — poised to seek a second term. Trump so far has two declared Republican opponents. Legal experts say that if Smith brings criminal charges against Trump, those charges would likely be pending when the GOP primary debates begin in August…”

Said one lawyer involved in the probe: “Smith knows how a calendar works. This thing is going to be messy if he brings indictments, any way you cut it. But it’ll be particularly messy if you have trials going on in the middle of primaries in Iowa and New Hampshire.”

“Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley stepped into the hallway after speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday to supporters asking for selfies and autographs — and, from others, a less friendly greeting,” the Washington Post reports.

Chanted a crowd around her: “We love Trump, we love Trump!”

“Some Haley supporters shouted her name back as the former U.N. ambassador escaped with staff to an elevator.”

Bloomberg: “Trump, allies say, seems set on ‘Ron DeSanctimonious,’ even though others around him don’t think it’s a bullseye. Some of the new ideas the former president’s entertained: ‘Ron DisHonest.’ ‘Ron DeEstablishment.’ Or even, ‘Tiny D.'”

“His team has spent weeks trying to dig up dirt on DeSantis’s record as governor; his wife, Casey, a former television journalist; his year teaching at a boarding school in Georgia and his record as a member of Congress, including support for raising the US retirement age and partly privatizing Medicare as part of then-Speaker Paul Ryan’s conservative budget plan…”

“Taking down DeSantis before he attains too much momentum and donor cash is a priority for Trump’s allies, who aim to sully the governor enough to dent his poll numbers and support within Republican circles. Two of Trump’s top campaign aides previously worked for DeSantis. One Trump adviser said that in his CPAC speech, the former president will seek to draw a strong contrast with his top rival.”