Trump Speaks at 5,000-Strong Young Conservatives Summit With Hint of Presidential Run

Nanette HoltJuly 24, 2022

Former President Donald Trump didn’t say he would try to reclaim the White House in 2024 when he addressed young conservatives in Tampa on July 23.

But he didn’t say he wouldn’t.

He dropped not-so-subtle hints during his hour-and-45-minute address to attendees of the Student Action Summit.

“I ran twice, and I won twice,” he teased, as audience members jumped to their feet, shouted their support, and clapped.

“And now, we may just have to do it again,” he beamed, as the crowd of 5,000 teens and 20-somethings chanted, “Take it back! Take it back! Take it back!”

Expected highlights of Trump’s prepared remarks had been given to the media before he took the stage 90 minutes later than planned.

But he strayed far from the script, using only a fraction of it.

He railed about the policies of his successor, President Joe Biden, and he touted his administration’s policies and accomplishments during his four-year term.

He even told stories that were, at times, uncharacteristically self-deprecating.

Former President Donald Trump goes off-script and speaks more than an hour longer than planned during the the Student Action Summit put on by Turning Point Action, an offshoot of Turning Point USA, in Tampa on July 23, 2022. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

He joked about not having enough hair to have the military flat-top he’d admired on a commanding officer, and he jested that he’d wanted to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor for enduring a landing on a dark runway in Iraq. But his staff, he said, told him it wouldn’t be appropriate.

Though he said he was eager to get home after speaking late in Arizona the night before, Trump exuded delight and energy. His speech was more than an hour longer than expected.