Former President Donald Trump dropped the strongest hint to date that he plans to run for reelection in 2024.
In a wide-ranging telephone interview with radio host and author Wayne Allyn Root last week, the 45th president assured supporters that they’ll be “very happy” with his decision.
“Are you planning to run for president? What can you say?” Root asked at the end of the interview (about the 20:40 mark of the video below).
Trump replied, “Well, you’re going to be happy, OK? You’re going to be very happy, I really believe that.”
The brash billionaire made the remarks shortly after brushing off gossip over whether he’ll run for House speaker if the GOP regains control of the House of Representatives in November.
This is a move many Trump supporters — including Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida — have aggressively pushed.
As outlandish as the idea sounds, it’s not impossible since Trump could become the speaker without even being an elected member of Congress.
All he’d need is to be nominated by a member of the House (Gaetz has vowed to do so if Trump were onboard), and win a majority of the votes from House members who are present and voting, according to PBS NewsHour.
If Trump were to become the speaker, he could facilitate the impeachment of flailing President Joe Biden. How delicious would that be?
“We need you — not Kevin McCarthy — leading … the impeachment of Biden and Kamala Harris. Why not consider it?” Root said (about the 20:20 mark of the video.)
The former president danced around the speculation by giving a noncommittal answer.
Do you expect Trump to run in 2024?
“No, and I understand that and we have a lot of great relationships in the House … We have some great people. And I’ll talk to you about that at a later date,” Trump told Root.
It’s unlikely the 45th president would want to be the speaker of the House when he’s likely to be aiming for the Oval Office again.
Since the day Biden was installed, Trump has dropped numerous hints that he plans to run again and indicated that he’s buoyed by his Democratic foe’s disastrous presidency.
Joe Biden’s net Approval hits ALL TIME LOW in 538 average of polls –almost 6 points lower than Trump’s at this point in office
39.5% approve, 54.6% disapprove pic.twitter.com/XkoHMPubTw
— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) June 21, 2022
Meanwhile, there’s mounting speculation that a second Trump presidential bid is all but certain.
In August 2021, former White House press secretary Sean Spicer essentially confirmed the rumors with a pithy, “He’s in.”
At this point, the timing of the announcement is probably a bigger question than whether Trump will actually run again.
Insiders — including son Eric Trump — have expressed concern about the Democrats’ malicious prosecution of his father to prevent a re-election bid.
If Trump announced his candidacy now, it would also give Trump’s political enemies more time to launch a full-frontal attack on his businesses and his supporters.
There’s also apprehension that a premature announcement could hurt the GOP by being a distraction from the 2022 midterm elections that are shaping up to be a disaster for Democrats.
Approval Averages at this time in office
President Trump : 42%
Republicans lost 40 House seatsPresident Obama: 48%
Democrats lost 63 House seatsPresident Clinton: 51%
Democrats lost 54 House seatsBiden approval average now: 39.6% pic.twitter.com/KnQmB7257V
— InteractivePolls (@IAPolls2022) June 21, 2022
Either way, numerous Democratic strategists are terrified at the prospect of another Trump presidential campaign.
“There’s not a strategist or insider that I’m hanging out with who would like to see Donald Trump running again,” Democratic pollster Rachel Bitecofer told The Hill in October. “Nobody should think he would be a weak nominee.”
