GOP worries Trump 2024 announcement will backfire

Former President Trump is plowing ahead with his 2024 campaign launch next week despite the pleas of even some of his closest advisers, who point to risks for both Trump and the Republican Party as a whole.

For Trump, a formal declaration of his candidacy would cut off support from the Republican National Committee in paying his legal bills, complicate how he can fundraise and risk inviting potential GOP challengers to move up their own plans if an announcement lands with a thud.

Other Republicans are particularly concerned about how an early Trump announcement might cost them in Georgia, where control of the Senate could be on the line in a runoff election next month. If Trump has already declared he is running for president again, lawmakers and party strategists worry that it will become a major motivator for Democrats to turn out and vote in a state Trump narrowly lost in 2020.