December 16th. The author of Anita Kumar published an article entitled “Trump told his allies that he would run for the 2024 election, but hinted that he might back down”. The author was Anita Kumar. The article said that Trump did not really want to run for president again, but wanted to get the attention he needed in the next two years. The full text is excerpted as follows:
Trump doesn’t need to run for president again. He just needs everyone to think he is the president.
His recent conversations with people around him showed that he regarded considering re-election for president as a way to get what he needs most after leaving office – attention.
Trump spent days calling a dozen allies to ask what they think he needs to do over the next two years to “keep the talking person in the state,” according to people familiar with the matter.
People familiar with the matter said that although Trump told his allies that he planned to run for president again, he also said that if he thought it was difficult to win, he might give up in two years.
According to interviews with 11 Republicans who have worked for Trump or helped him in two of his campaigns, in essence, Trump’s current interest in people talking about his 2024 campaign is as much as his interest in actually actually starting the campaign.
Formally running for president means a lot — public financial statements, building campaign infrastructure, and the possibility of losing again, which aides say Trump is unwilling to face. But just saying that going to run for president — without actually filing or building a campaign — will give Trump the attention he needs for the next two years.
The attention will help him maintain his business. During his presidency, a portion of his business lost millions of dollars. The attention will help him pay off his debts.
His debts need to be paid off in the next few years. Attention will help to disparage the reputation of the people who investigate him. They are investigating whether Trump has illegally exaggerated his assets.
This is a strategy Trump has used before. Before running for the 2016 campaign, Trump expressed interest in at least four different presidential campaigns dating back to the late 1980s, but he eventually backed off.
A former White House aide said: “Trump probably doesn’t know whether he will really run, but because he only cares about himself and his connection with the Republican Party is only about his ambitions, not the meaning represented, he will try to freeze the field and put as many people aside. Just to keep his options, yes, let all the attention be on himself.”
