LAS VEGAS ? Donald Trump will endorse Mitt Romney for president here shortly after noon on Thursday, a source confirmed.
In typical Trump fashion, the endorsement up until the last minute had the flamboyant air of mystery ? and chaos ? associated with a man who is perhaps best known for firing people on prime-time television. On Wednesday night, reports were leaking out of Newt Gingrich?s campaign that Mr. Trump was throwing his support behind Mr. Gingrich, and as late as Thursday morning, several news organizations, including Fox News, were still reporting that Mr. Gingrich was in line for Mr. Trump?s endorsement.
The Romney campaign did not release its public schedule until Thursday morning ? a rarity for that team ? and even then its 12:30 p.m. slot (the time at which Mr. Trump is set to endorse) remained vague, offering only: ?Romney for President Event. TBD Location. Las Vegas, Nevada.? Mr. Romney will appear with Mr. Trump at his Trump International Hotel and Tower here.
Mr. Romney and Mr. Trump have not always had the easiest relationship. In December, Mr. Romney called Mr. Trump, a real estate mogul and reality television star, to tell him that he would not attend a Republican debate Mr. Trump planned to host, which was later canceled.
And as all the Republican contenders traveled to Midtown Manhattan to meet with Mr. Trump in a proverbial kiss of his ring, Mr. Romney took great pains to avoid having a photograph snapped of him entering Trump Towers, deploying his director of operations as a decoy while Mr. Romney entered in a dark-tinted S.U.V. through a side entrance.
Through Wednesday night, Newt Gingrich?s camp was boasting that the Trump endorsement was headed its way, but CNN News first reported Thursday morning that Mr. Trump planned to throw his support behind Mr. Romney.
A spokesman for Mr. Trump suggested that the Romney camp would be releasing an official statement soon, and in a flair of typical Trump showmanship, said, ?I strongly suggest you be there no matter what.?
Mr. Trump has at times been a polarizing and electrifying presence in the 2012 presidential contest.
Last year, his weeks of will-he-or-won?t-he run ensured that he would remain in the news. And his decision to question the validity of President Obama?s birth certificate caused such a news media firestorm that the White House was forced to publicly release the document.
But it is unclear what impact an endorsement by Mr. Trump would have on Republican voters. After announcing that he would not run as a Republican in 2012, Mr. Trump has repeatedly dangled the possibility that he would mount a third-party bid.
Mr. Trump, the host of ?Celebrity Apprentice? on NBC, is a master showman. During his deliberations over a presidential bid, he repeatedly teased the media about what he might do.
?When the show is over ? and the finale is on May 22 ? when the show is over, I will then be free to announce,? he said last year. ?I think you will be surprised at a number of things, but I think you will be surprised at what my announcement is.?
But after all the speculation, Mr. Trump said that his businesses were ?his passion? and that he was not ready to leave the private sector for public service.
Still, at the time he pledged to ?push our president and the country?s policy makers to address the dire challenges arising from our unsustainable debt structure and increasing lack of global competitiveness.?
Mr. Trump?s flair for the dramatic was evident again this week, when Mr. Trump announced Wednesday evening that he would have a big announcement on Thursday. Reports quickly surfaced that he would endorse Newt Gingrich.
Mr. Gingrich said quickly that he had not talked to Mr. Trump in recent days. And by Thursday, those reports turned out to be wrong.
Word of the endorsement had the Obama campaign making links between Mr. Trump?s television slogan and a now-famous line from Mr. Romney, with Ben La Bolt, a spokesman for the campaign, saying in a Twitter post: ?Some of these things are like the other. Who said it? ?You?re fired.? ?I like to fire people.??
Source: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/02/trump-to-endorse-romney-in-las-vegas/
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