President Trump’s exit strategy was clear: Cast doubt on the election result before retiring to his Florida estate to embark on a new chapter as Republican power broker and media star while teasing a triumphant return to office in 2024.
But the violent attack on the United States Capitol and Trump’s role in denying Joe Biden’s election victory have destroyed his chances of running for president again, according to Trumpworld insiders.
The ugly scenes have already had an impact on fundraising. The Trump campaign has not issued an email appeal for cash since 1 p.m. on Wednesday, shortly before the president’s supporters battered their way inside the Capitol building.
“2024 was always a long shot. Now, he’s toast,” said a former campaign adviser.
The invasion, and Trump’s role in calling on supporters to march on the Capitol, has prompted a string of resignations among White House staff and Cabinet secretaries. Several donors have spoken out against the president, leaving him under siege during his final days in office.
And on Friday night, he was permanently kicked off Twitter.
He even faces a staff counting down the days until the inauguration when they can leave.
“There’s a lot of anger in the West Wing,” said one senior White House official, who said he had decided to see out his time.
But a former White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the president still had the Republican Party’s biggest list of small-money donors, a war chest of at least $200 million, and the power to dominate news coverage.
“Senate Republicans are done with him. The Washington operative class is done with him,” he said. “But most of his voters are still with him, a lot of House Republicans are still with him, and people are fooling themselves if they think he’s just going to disappear from the political scene.”
As if to prove his point, Trump’s hand-picked chairwoman, Ronna McDaniel, was unanimously reelected to head the Republican National Committee on Friday morning — despite presiding over campaigns that lost the House, Senate, and White House to Democrats.
Another former senior White House official said it demonstrated that the party was not ready to move forward and that Trump’s “cult of personality” would live on.
He said: “When has an RNC chair ever been reelected after losing everything?”
Yet, some of Trump’s business allies have already begun turning on him.
Marc Sumerlin, a White House candidate for the Federal Reserve board until the founder of the Washington consulting firm Evenflo Macro withdrew, sent a blistering note to clients, obtained by CNBC.
“A small man, unloved as a child and filled with raging self-hate, secured his place as the worst president in United States history yesterday by inciting insurrection against the US constitutional government,” it said.
The fallout from the Capitol assault will make Trump all the more reliant on small donors, said a former senior official.
“I think anything above low-dollar-crazy is going to be a problem,” the official told Reuters. “Anything above the $100 giver is out.”
Doug Deason, a major Trump donor, said there was no doubt that the president would retain his influence over the party and country despite what he dismissed as “whiny Dem politicians.”
But he declined to say whether or not he would continue to donate to Trump’s cause.
“I don’t think he will need it,” he said. “His campaign should be sitting on over $100 million.“
That might still leave him well-placed to promote an “America First” agenda and promote selected candidates. Trump himself has repeatedly promised to keep fighting for his supporters.
But many of his former allies think the damage from his handling of the Capitol siege means any prospect of a 2024 run for the White House is slipping away.
“Never say never, but it’s never looked worse,” said another former senior administration official.
