Trump Revs Up 2024 Maneuvering With a CPAC Speaking Slot

(Bloomberg) -- Former President Donald Trump is speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference again this year as he ramps up his political activity ahead of the midterm elections in November and increasingly signals he plans to make another bid for the White House in 2024.

Trump announced in a video released by the American Conservative Union that he'll be attending the multi-day conference with conservatives in Orlando in February. He also spoke at CPAC gatherings last year in Orlando and Dallas.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, both potential 2024 presidential candidates are also among those scheduled to speak this month. DeSantis trails only Trump in most polls forecasting a potential GOP presidential primary field. Trump, who has teased but not confirmed that he could run again, has denied any tensions with DeSantis over a possible 2024 White House bid.

Trump has stepped up his campaign-style rallies this year with events in Arizona and Texas last month, and his political committees released reports on Monday showing they closed out 2021 with $122 million in the bank, driven by contributions from his army of small-dollar donors.

The former president is using some funds to stage his rallies and support Republicans he's endorsed for federal and state offices while also maintaining a large war chest to maintain his grip on the party and freeze would-be rivals for the GOP nomination in 2024.

Trump drew criticism from fellow Republicans for saying at his rally in Texas on Saturday night that he would consider pardoning those charged in the deadly assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, if he runs again and wins.

He has also increased his attacks on his former vice president, Mike Pence, for refusing to reject Electoral College votes for Joe Biden on Jan. 6, 2021, as Trump had demanded. Trump said Sunday he wanted Pence to overturn the election -- which Pence has said he lacked the authority to do -- and Trump has even suggested that the House panel investigating the Jan. 6 riot examine Pence's actions.

Among the other CPAC speakers the American Conservative Union has confirmed on Twitter are Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, Representatives Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Matt Gaetz of Florida, both Republicans, and JD Vance, the venture capitalist and “Hillbilly Elegy” authority who's running as a Republican for the U.S. Senate in Ohio.