President Donald Trump is not planning to go softly into that great goodnight. He is reportedly preparing to announce a run for the 2024 presidency after he finally concedes his 2020 loss to President-elect Joe Biden.
Maggie Haberman, the veteran Washington correspondent for The New York Times, observes that with Trump, “there is no grand strategy at play.” The president, she writes, is using his baseless claim of election fraud to keep his rabid fan base energized until he decides what he wants to do next.
According to Haberman’s sources, that may include a bid for the 2024 presidency.
Presidents are limited to serving two terms, but they don’t have to be consecutive. Therefore, a 2024 Trump bid is perfectly legal.
However, it may not have the wide support of the Republican Party, as several leading GOP members have already expressed their desire to enter the field in 2024, including Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley.
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If Trump entered the 2024 race, it would allow him to stay in the news cycle, as well as give weight to potential book and television deal negotiations. Further, his popularity in the GOP would freeze the ambitions of all other candidates.
Trump’s decision to endorse Ronna Romney McDaniel to remain the head of the Republican National Committee is seen as an indication that he is strongly considering the idea. McDaniel was aware that his endorsement was coming; she’s reportedly considering a run for governor of Michigan.
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According to Axios, if Trump was to make such a decision, it wouldn’t be long from now. On the day he was elected in 2017, Trump filed the paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to qualify as a 2020 candidate.
If Trump decides to enter the 2024 race, there would be little any other Republican could do to stop him. Even after his administration’s mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic, his approval rating among conservative Republicans was 97 percent.
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