Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) has urged his party not to nominate former President Donald Trump as its presidential nominee in 2024, CNBC reports.

Said Toomey, who is retiring next year: “I think after what happened post-2020 election, I think the president’s behavior was completely unacceptable, so I don’t think he should be the nominee to lead the party in 2024.”

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) told The Undercurrent in Iowa that Donald Trump will announce he’s running for President in 2024 “any day now.”

Maggie Haberman reports Trump “could always not pull the trigger but this is what he’s now told several people — sooner rather than later.”

Jonathan Bernstein: “Early candidacy announcements are usually a sign of weakness. Longshots announce early, and begin campaigning early, because they need a lot of time to build enough attention and support to persuade party actors and news organizations to take them seriously.”

“But Trump’s situation is different. It’s at least possible that by jumping in definitively at this early stage, he could convince everyone else to stay out. The longer uncertainty persists, the more other politicians will be doing candidate-like things, which in turn could make one or more of them more likely to stay in and run a serious campaign. Even if Trump would be the likely winner, he’d rather have the nomination given to him than to have to fight for it, and an early announcement might do the trick.”

“Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has cemented himself as the face of GOP opposition to anti-Covid-19 mandates — a position that is winning over not only rank-and-file voters ahead of the 2024 presidential primaries but also some of the Republican Party’s wealthiest donors,” NBC News reports.

“How the race shapes up will first and foremost be determined by whether former President Donald Trump decides to run. But many donors are investing early in potential candidates like DeSantis, whom polling shows to be the leading Trump alternative in the prospective presidential field.”

Politico: “Former President Donald Trump plans to hold a rally in the first-in-the-nation caucus state of Iowa as he continues to tease a third run for the White House. Details for Trump’s trip are still being worked out.”

Jonathan Bernstein: “It’s true that the available Senate seats in 2024 will be extremely challenging for Democrats. There are no obvious pick-ups — no states that President Joe Biden won that are currently represented by a Republican — and several Democratic seats that will likely be very difficult to defend. One, Senator Joe Manchin’s seat in West Virginia, seems almost certain to flip to Republicans. If that happens, and Democrats need even one net seat to win a Senate majority, they would have to hold several other tough seats while finding two or more unlikely wins.”

“So yes, betting more than three years in advance, I wouldn’t take even odds that Democrats would win a new majority in 2024. But it’s one thing to assess the odds; it’s another to be too confident about the future. It’s not hard to come up with a few ways Democrats could win a seat or two.”

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) told Vanity Fair that both he and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) have spoken with former President Donald Trump about their joint national tour to attack Trump’s critics.

Said Gaetz: “Our thinking is we’re kind of the advance team for Trump if any of these, you know, Chris Christie, Nikki Haley kind of like half-Trumpers or Never Trumpers try to run.”

He added: “I’ve talked to the president about it. Marjorie has talked to the president about it. And he likes the idea of having the energetic characters in our party out there in the early-primary states keeping the band in tune, if you will.”

A new Quinnipiac poll finds 59% of Florida voters don’t want Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to run for president in 2024.

Former President Trump teased a potential 2024 presidential run in a podcast interview, The Hill reports.

Said Trump: “We won it twice. I’ve won it twice and now I have to win it again. I guess if we’re going to save the country, look… I’ll make a decision.”

He added: “It won’t be maybe for a little while. You know, a lot of people would like to see a decision immediately, but perhaps there’s also a big group, including maybe myself, that would like to see it after the midterms.”

Trump adviser Jason Miller was interviewed by Kara Swisher about a possible 2024 presidential by Donald Trump:

“When I went over to see him last week, and he had sitting out — someone had dropped off these four massive binders with thousands of petition signatures trying to draft him to run in 2024. And we were talking about it, and just hearing the way that he’s talking very much sounds like someone who is more likely to run than not.”

“Donald Trump has given the clearest indication yet that he is planning to run again for the White House as he prepares for a political rally this weekend,” the Times of London reports.

“Trump, 75, told Fox News that he was prevented from declaring his candidacy by campaign finance laws but viewers would be happy with his answer.”

“Former Vice President Mike Pence is ramping up his donor outreach as he weighs a 2024 White House bid. Pence held a donor retreat late last week benefiting his newly formed nonprofit group, Advancing American Freedom,” Politico reports.

“The retreat was invite-only, with attendees asked to contribute in the six- and seven-figure range.”

Tampa Bay Times: “From the week of the 2020 election through February, the network asked DeSantis to appear on its airwaves 113 times, or nearly once a day. Sometimes, the requests came in bunches — four, five, even six emails in a matter of hours from producers who punctuated their overtures with flattery.”

“There are few surprises when DeSantis goes live with Fox. ‘Exclusive’ events… are carefully crafted with guidance from DeSantis’ team. Topics, talking points and even graphics are shared in advance… By turning to DeSantis to fill the many hours of airtime once devoted to former President Donald Trump, Fox has made Florida’s hard-charging leader one of the country’s most recognizable Republicans. That has given DeSantis a leg up on others who may seek the party’s nomination for president in 2024.”

“Donald Trump’s fundraising committee has hired two political operatives familiar with campaigns in Iowa, the state that typically kicks off the race for the White House, signaling his interest in running in 2024,” Bloomberg reports.

Politico: “Gov. Ron DeSantis has built a national political brand. Need proof? Just look at his political committee’s more than $4 million July haul. DeSantis … last month brought in political contributions from every state in the country and several United States territories as well as from members of the military serving overseas, according to campaign finance records.”

Since last October, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison has contributed $10 million to an outside group aligned with Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), Politico reports. 

“Scott’s behind-the-scenes courtship of Ellison illustrates how the senator has quietly become a powerhouse fundraiser and a major force within the Republican Party. Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, has seen his profile rise since delivering the party’s response to President Joe Biden’s joint address to Congress in April and is developing a vast network of small- and large-dollar donors that spans his party’s ideological spectrum, helping him far outraise Senate colleagues this year.”

“With the top levels of the GOP divided over whether to remain in lockstep with Trump or break away from him, senior Republicans say Scott’s ability to win support from divergent wings of the party could be an asset should he wage a 2024 run.”

Iowa Republican Party chair Jeff Kaufmann tweets: “Had a great 15 minute call from President Trump this evening. He asked about Iowa’s farmers and other topics including Iowa’s first-in-the-nation status.”

“Signals have been pouring out of former President Donald Trump’s Bedminster, New Jersey, resort that he’s heading in the direction of another run for the presidency,” the Washington Examiner reports.

“It was sparked by reports from former chief of staff Mark Meadows that Trump was meeting with his 2024 ‘Cabinet’ to judge the field he might face.”

Said former press secretary Sean Spicer: “He’s in.”