Former President Donald Trump has no incentive to advertise his 2024 plans. It would only distract from the Biden administration’s dumpster fire. It would give time for prospective GOP hopefuls to triangulate their primary approach.
On the other hand, if Trump were to call it quits on electoral politics, it would mark the end of his media relevance and justification for fundraising. Whether he decides to bow out or announce an eleventh-hour candidacy, don’t expect Trump to spill the beans anytime soon.
By the same token, no one else important in Washington wants Trump to say he isn’t running. Most of them pray that he postures for a reelection campaign even more than Trump’s voters.
Trump’s hold on the media is obvious enough. Trump made good enough television that cable news gave him billions in free advertising over his competitors in 2016. The networks’ plummeting post-Trump viewership shows that liberals are lost without him.
Democrats are also floundering without their favorite foil to campaign against. Couple Trump’s absence from our collective consciousness with rampant inflation, the supply chain shortage, the border, Afghanistan, etc., and it’s no wonder that Virginia went so badly for them.
And while the actual Republican strategists paid to get the GOP elected for a living thank God and Jack Dorsey every day that Trump is seemingly settling into his newfound status as new Florida Man, the “Republican strategists” who dominate the airwaves are practically salivating at the thought of another round of MAGA madness.
Seriously, what will Ana Navarro, Bill Kristol, and Rick Wilson do if Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis clinches the GOP nomination? Or for that matter Sen. Tim Scott or former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley? How can you top “Trump is the greatest threat to democracy since the Confederacy?” You can’t.
So when reports drop that Melania, described by her husband as “more beautiful than ever,” is utterly done with politics and that Trump, who has lost 15 pounds and gained a tan since retiring to Mar-a-Lago, is indeed selling his Washington, D.C., hotel, don’t expect the media, Democrats, or RINOs to take them to their logical conclusion: that he really may not be running.
Outside of a few Republicans on Capitol Hill, there are about a dozen of us in Washington who dread a third Trump campaign. I’m pretty sure we all follow each other on Twitter. That said, my wishful thinking is what the rest of the media will refuse to admit, should Trump finally decide he’s done with politics.
