Trump Says Decision to Run in 2024 Is 'Already Made' and Now He's Weighing When to Announce Candidacy
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MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Donald Trump
Donald Trump says he's made up his mind about running for president again in 2024.
"Well, in my own mind, I've already made that decision, so nothing factors in anymore," Trump, 76, says in an interview with New York magazine of launching another bid for the White House.
Now, Trump indicated during his chat with political reporter Olivia Nuzzi, it's not a question of if he'll run but rather a question of when he'll announce his candidacy.
"I would say my big decision will be whether I go before or after," he told Nuzzi. "You understand what that means?"
Asked if he was referring to the upcoming midterm elections in November, Trump replies affirmatively. "Midterms," he says. "Do I go before or after? That will be my big decision."
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Though Trump denied he considered announcing his third presidential campaign on Independence Day — he called the claim "fake news" despite a source telling New York, "He really was 100 percent going to announce on the Fourth of July" — he seems eager to become an official candidate sooner rather than later.
"I just think that there are certain assets to before," he said. "Let people know. I think a lot of people would not even run if I did that because, if you look at the polls, they don't even register. Most of these people. And I think that you would actually have a backlash against them if they ran. People want me to run."
Speculation about Trump running in 2024 is not new. He began hinting about a return to the White House almost as soon as he left. And chatter about his true intentions won't likely end, even after he confirms his candidacy.
SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty President Donald Trump at an Oct. 12 campaign rally in Sanford, Florida.
"He'll talk about it incessantly. He may even announce he's running but when it comes right down to it, he won't run," Trump's former National Security Advisor John Bolton said earlier this month during an interview with CBS News, echoing a prediction he made in November of last year.
John Kelly, who served as Trump's chief of staff from 2017 until 2019, made the same prediction, also in November.
"Trump won't run," Kelly told The Atlantic. "He'll continue talking about it; he may even declare, but he will not run. And the reason is he simply cannot be seen as a loser."
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The notion that Trump may say he's running even if he doesn't intend to see it through is reminiscent of buzz in 2016 that he launched his first major bid for the presidency without a desire to be the president.
Whatever his motivations are this time around, the former president is expressing little doubt about his chances, telling New York, "I feel very confident that, if I decide to run, I'll win."
