Former President Donald Trump's mysterious "major announcement" is sparking speculation over what he may be preparing to publicize later this week.
On Wednesday, Trump posted a video on his Truth Social account with the caption, "AMERICA NEEDS A SUPERHERO! I will be making a MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT tomorrow. Thank you!"
The video features a comic book cartoon of Trump in front of the Trump Tower while ripping off a suit to reveal a superhero costume with a letter "T" as laser beams shoot out of his eyes.
Trump did not elaborate on when or where the announcement would take place. Although he revealed little about the December 15 announcement, social media users were quick to guess what the former president had planned for Thursday.
"Trump to make 'major announcement' on Thursday? Will he announce a third party run? House Speaker bid? His running mate?" conservative commentator Todd Starnes tweeted.
"I get the feeling trump's heard something from his lawyers that something's going to happen this Thursday or Friday and so he wants to make a huge announcement ahead of it," one user suggested.
Others speculated that Trump may announce a running mate for his 2024 presidential campaign, which he launched less than a month ago. Ahead of the 2024 announcement, Trump had also cryptically teased a "very big announcement."
"So is Trump gonna chose Kari Lake to be his VP tmrw...?" one Twitter user pondered.
"Any idiot can guess that he's abt to call @KariLake as his VP," another added.
Although it's unclear who Trump will select to run as his vice president for his 2024 campaign, Politico reported last month that Trump would pick a running mate "from three general lanes of candidates: women, conservatives of color, or a trusted adviser."
While some have suggested that Trump would pick Arizona's Republican nominee for governor, Kari Lake, the Conservative Brief also reported that the former president is considering Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, the chairwoman of the Republican Governors Association. Other media reports have also floated the names of Representatives Majorie Taylor Greene and Elise Stefanik.
On Wednesday, some Twitter users also suggested that Trump could select MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell or Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has been positioned as a strong contender to Trump for the 2024 GOP nomination.
"Trump needs to do something because support for him in 2024 is weaker than ever. Announcing DeSantis as VP choice might be just what he needs to revitalize the campaign," one user said.
Others have speculated that Thursday's announcement could mark Trump's return to Twitter.
Last month, the social media platform, under the new leadership of tech billionaire Elon Musk, reinstated Trump's suspended Twitter account after a slim majority of users voted in favor of lifting the existing ban on the former president's account. Trump had previously been banned for inciting violence related to the January 6 Capitol riot.
However, Trump said he had no interest in returning to Twitter and that he planned to stick with his new platform Truth Social, which he said had better user engagement than Twitter.
Newsweek reached out to Trump for comment but did not hear back.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Katherine Fung is a Newsweek reporter based in New York City. Her focus is reporting on U.S. and world politics. ... Read more
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