As he prepared to tee off at one of his Florida golf courses, a fellow player introduced Donald Trump as the "45th president of the United States."

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"45th and 47th," Trump responded matter-of-factly, before hitting his drive.

The quip – a moment of levity on the links captured on shaky cellphone video – was a reminder that the former president often has another presidential run on his mind. But the declaration belied the growing challenges he's confronting as a series of complex legal investigations ensnare Trump, his family and many associates.

The probes, which are unfolding in multiple jurisdictions and consider everything from potential fraud and election interference to the role he played in the Jan. 6 insurrection, represent the most serious legal threat Trump has faced in decades of an often litigious public life. They're intensifying as a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found Trump's iron grip on the GOP may be starting to loosen.

His popularity among Republicans is declining somewhat, with 71% saying they have a favorable opinion of Trump compared with 78% in a September 2020 AP-NORC/USAFacts poll. But the new poll shows only a narrow majority of Republicans -- 56% -- want him to run for president in 2024. The poll found that 44% of Republicans do not want Trump to run.

Despite the legal and political headwinds, those around Trump describe him as looking to the future and emboldened by a sense of invincibility that has allowed him to recover from devastating turns, including two impeachments, that would have ended the careers of other politicians. Instead of receding from the spotlight, he's teasing a comeback run for president as he escalates his attacks against those investigating him and his company.

"He's in great spirits," said Darrell Scott, an Ohio pastor and Trump ally who met with the former president this week.

Trump huddled with top aides in Florida this week as he plots a midterm strategy that could serve as a springboard for future efforts. And be held another campaign-style rally in Texas on Saturday evening ahead of the state's March 1 elections that formally kick off the midterm primary season.

Speaking at county fairgrounds outside of Houston, Trump sketched out the beginnings of a 2024 campaign agenda, saying he would ban critical race theory – it views American history through the lens of racism – from classrooms, the military and government on "the first day, first hour, if I decide to run and if we win." And he said he would make sure those charged in connection with the deadly Jan 6. riot at the US Capitol were treated "fairly."

"And if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons," he said of his supporters, who stormed the building in an effort to block the certification of President Joe Biden's win.

But even as he projects a sense of inevitability that the nomination would be his if he wants it, his effort to freeze the field of Republicans eyeing the 2024 field has been uneven. Some, including former Vice President Mike Pence and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have so far refused to demur, making speeches and traveling to key states that suggest they are strongly considering campaigns. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is also seen as another contender for the nomination and drew attention recently when he said that one of his biggest regrets as governor was not pushing back when Trump urged Americans to stay home in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic to stop the virus's spread.

As Trump tries to move forward, so do the legal cases against him.

On Monday, judges in Georgia approved a request for a special grand jury by the Fulton County prosecutor who has been investigating whether Trump and others broke the law by trying to pressure Georgia officials to throw out President Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 election. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has said her office received information "indicating a reasonable probability" that the election had been "subject to possible criminal disruptions."

In New York, state Attorney General Letitia James claimed in a court filing last week that her office uncovered evidence that Trump's company used "fraudulent or misleading" valuations of its golf clubs, skyscrapers and other property to secure loans and tax benefits. While her lawyers said they hadn't decided whether to bring a lawsuit in connection with the allegations, they revealed the company overstated the value of land donations made in New York and California on paperwork submitted to the IRS and misreported the size of Trump's Manhattan penthouse, among other misleading valuations.

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office has also been working with James' office on a parallel criminal investigation, which resulted in charges last summer against Trump's company, the Trump Organization, and its longtime finance chief, Allen Weisselberg.

Meanwhile, in Washington, the Jan. 6 committee investigating the violent insurrection has interviewed hundreds of witnesses, issued dozens of subpoenas and obtained tens of thousands of pages of records, including texts, emails and phone records from people close to Trump, as well as thousands of pages of White House records that Trump fought to shield from public view. Among them: a draft executive order that proposed using Defense Department assets to seize voting machines, the committee's chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson, has said.

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A top Justice Department official said this week that prosecutors are investigating fake certificates sent to the National Archives with made-up slates of electors who wrongly declared Trump the winner in seven states he lost as part of a desperate campaign to subvert the voters' will. Attorney General Merrick Garland has said the Justice Department remains committed to "holding all January 6th perpetrators, at any level, accountable under law, whether they were present that day or were otherwise criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy."

As president, Trump was largely shielded from legal consequence. But no longer.

David Weinstein, a former federal prosecutor in Miami, said that, until now, Trump's legal problems have largely been relegated to "money things," with various lawsuits seeking payouts. But he described what Trump is facing now, particularly in Georgia and Washington, as "more significant, because with those comes the potential exposure to criminal punishment."

"If they can prove intention, knowledge, involvement in an ongoing conspiracy," he said, "that's potential criminal exposure, something he's never faced before."

But those who have worked with Trump said he and those around him are likely to continue to brush off the probes as nothing more than politically motivated "witch hunts" aimed at damaging his future political prospects. After spending so many years jumping from one crisis to the next, from the Russia investigation to inquiries about everything from his Washington hotel lease to payoffs to a former porn star, being under investigation in TrumpWorld is the norm.

For many in his circle, "It's a badge of honor to be subpoenaed," said Stephanie Grisham, the former White House press secretary who quit on Jan. 6 and has since penned an anti-Trump book.

"It's easy to say 'It's just another witch hunt' because that's what we said about everything," she said. "People are doubling down. That's what we do in TrumpWorld, we double down. And you just claim it's a witch hunt, you claim it's political theater. And that's how you get your supporters to continue to donate money and to continue to believe they're on the good side."

Indeed, on Saturday night, Trump railed against the investigators and insisted, "There's never been a witch hunt or a fishing expedition like this."

"This has been going on as long as you've known me. It will continue as long as I'm leading in the polls like I am," he said, adding: "In reality, they're not after me, they're after you."

And, after being accused of inciting the Capitol riot, he issued a request. "If these radical, vicious, racist prosecutors do anything wrong or illegal, I hope we are going to have in this country the biggest protest we have ever had in Washington, DC, in New York, in Atlanta and elsewhere."

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As one of the most fateful elections in US history approaches, Israel Hayom offers readers a  curated list of some of the best election-themed films and television series to binge until the exit polls are out.

State of the Nation (1948)

Frank Capra made a number of political films throughout his career, but only one dealt directly with a presidential election. In this drama-comedy, based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning play, an American aviation baron (Spencer Tracy) is persuaded by his scheming mistress (Angela Landsbury) to run for president.

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The War Room (1993)

The documentary by D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus follows Bill Clinton's first presidential campaign. The filmmakers began following the campaign long before Clinton became a favorite, and their behind-the-scenes look at the political machine leaves nothing to the imagination.

Bulworth (1998)

In this dark satire, Warren Beatty plays a senator who amazes his surroundings by adopting the persona of a rapper and starts to tell his voters the truth. Surprisingly, instead of killing his political career, his tactics bring him great success and he quickly becomes the most beloved politician in American and a leading candidate for president.

Swing Vote (2008)

Kevin Costner plays Bud Johnson, a single father from New Mexico who discovers that his vote, which was not counted, will determine an extraordinarily close presidential race. Both candidates rush to his town to convince him to vote for them.

The Ides of March (2011)

George Clooney produced, directed, and starred in this film about a Democratic governor who wants to win his party's nomination for president. He teams up with an idealistic young political advisor (Ryan Gosling), who slowly starts to realize that his hero might not be everything he is cracked up to be.

The West Wing (1999-2016)

This list would be incomplete without mentioning Aaron Sorkin's excellent series, one of the most-lauded TV series ever, which was awarded 26 Emmy prizes, including four for best dramatic series. Must-see TV!

House of Cards (2013-2018)

One of the original series that put Netflix on the map. House of Cards is an American version of a British TV series from the 1990s. As popular as the series was, it ended when star Kevin Spacey was ousted after public claims that he had sexually assaulted young men.

Veep (2012-2019)

Julia Louis Dreyfuss plays a vice president who dreams of becoming president. The series follows her entourage, a collection of colorful characters who are essentially a satirical take on actual figures from Washington. The series made it all the way through without specifying the main character's party, and won 17 Emmy awards during its run.

Scandal (2012-2018)

Creator of Grey's Anatomy Shonda Rhimes made another huge hit with series based on the dirty workings of Washington, DC with Scandal. Kerry Washington plays a fixer based on Judy Smith, who worked with President George W. Bush, who is involved in an affair with the president.

Commander in Chief (2005-2006)

Geena Davis plays Mackenzie Allen, a vice president who becomes the first woman president of the United States after the president dies.

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The comments from Ken Cuccinelli, the acting director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services, came a day after the Trump administration announced it would seek to deny green cards to migrants who seek Medicaid, food stamps, housing vouchers or other forms of public assistance.

The move and Cuccinelli's defense prompted an outcry from Democrats and immigration advocates who said the policy would favor wealthier immigrants and put at a disadvantage those from poorer countries in Latin America and Africa.

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The administration's proposed policy shift comes as President Donald Trump is leaning more heavily into the restrictive immigration policies that have energized his core supporters and were central to his 2016 victory.

He has also spoken disparagingly about immigration from majority black and Hispanic countries.

Cuccinelli said in an interview with CNN on Tuesday night that the Emma Lazarus poem emblazoned on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty referred to "people coming from Europe where they had class-based societies where people were considered wretched if they weren't in the right class."

Lazarus' poem, written in 1883 to raise money to construct the Statue of Liberty's pedestal and cast in bronze beneath the monument in 1903, served as a beacon to millions of immigrants who crossed past as they first entered the US in New York Harbor.

It reads, "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore."

Cuccinelli was asked earlier Tuesday on NPR whether the words "give me your tired, your poor" were part of the American ethos. Cuccinelli responded: "They certainly are. Give me your tired and your poor who can stand on their own two feet and who will not become a public charge."

A hard-line conservative from Virginia, Cuccinelli was a failed Republican candidate for governor in 2013 after serving as the state's attorney general.

He is one of a slew of immigration hardliners brought in by Trump to implement the president's policies. He was appointed to the post in June in a temporary capacity.

When asked about those comments, Trump said, "I don't think it's fair to have the American taxpayer paying for people to come into the United States," Trump told reporters before boarding Air Force One for Pennsylvania. "I think we're doing it right."

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Jewish Insider first reported the development last week.

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The group's CEO and president, Mark Mellman, told the outlet that while "the overwhelming majority of elected Democrats are pro-Israel and we intend to keep it that way, there is a small group of outliers who are trying to change that and we are here to do battle with them."

While the organization has yet to decide which races it would be involved in, "we know a lot of our champions being threatened around the country, and we know some of those races are going to be serious races," said Mellman.

Although the PAC has yet to receive contributions, it had commitments from people who "would be significant," and it will spend "substantial amount of money" in the 2020 races as "a major force," said Mellman.

Pro-Israel Democrats facing primary challenges include New York Rep. Eliot Engel, who is the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Illinois Rep. Brad Schneider.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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At a packed rally at an arena in Orlando, Florida, Trump made clear he would run for re-election as an outsider, just as he did in 2016.  He revisited campaign themes from four years ago, decrying illegal immigration, "fake news" and his 2016 Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.

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"Together we stared down a broken political establishment and we restored government by and for the people," Trump said. "As long as you keep this team in place, we have a tremendous way to go. Our future has never looked brighter or sharper."

Trump said his Democratic challengers would radically change the United States and seek to legalize migrants coming across the southern border so they could vote and boost the Democratic political base.

Democrats "want to destroy our country as we know it" and it's "not going to happen," Trump said.

"We believe our country should be a sanctuary for law-abiding citizens, not for criminal aliens," he said in defense of the US administration's current immigration policy.

Two dozen Democrats are competing for their party's nomination to face off against Trump in the November 2020 election. Many of the top Democrats lead Trump in opinion polls in some states.

Trump called his opponents a "radical left-wing mob" who would bring socialism to the United States.

"A vote for any Democrat in 2020 is a vote for the rise of radical socialism and the destruction of the American dream. … Tonight I stand before you to officially launch my campaign for a second term as president of the United States. I promise you I will never ever let you down," he said.

During his speech, Trump blasted the media as "fake news," praised the strong economy, said he was putting the heat on China on trade, promoted his proposal for a "space force," vowed to protect Americans' rights to own guns and said he wanted to launch a space mission to Mars.

Trump also declared himself a victim of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. The probe found insufficient evidence to establish that the Trump campaign engaged in a criminal conspiracy with Moscow.

"We went through the biggest witch hunt in political history," said Trump. "It was all an illegal attempt to overturn the results of the election."

Two-and-a-half years into his tenure, Trump sees plenty of positive factors, led by a growing economy with low unemployment.

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