Trump Admits What Could Stop Him From Running in 2024

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OPINION: This article contains commentary which may reflect the author’s opinion

Donald Trump said that only his health could defeat him in the 2024 presidential election in an interview published Thursday.

He has made multiple hints that he plans to run for a second term in office. However, he said he might be content to see how his rivals fight it out for the Republican nomination.

In a statement, he confirmed that advisers have been told that his health will affect his decision.

‘You always have to talk about health. You look like you’re in good health, but tomorrow, you get a letter from a doctor saying come see me again.

‘That’s not good when they use the word “again,”‘ he explained, noting that he was in very good health in a Washington Post interview.

But he went on to suggest that he planned on running in the election.

‘I don’t want to comment on running, but I think a lot of people are going to be very happy by my decision,’ he said, going on: ‘Because it’s a little boring now.’

According to doctors who study the health of presidents and aging, Donald Trump could be a super ager who remains active and fit into his 80s, although his obesity and a family history of dementia could shorten the process.

There is a large gap between Trump and his potential Republican rivals in opinion polls.

It leaves most of the remaining potential candidates waiting to see when and whether he enters the race.

In the interview, Trump talked a lot about his own grip on the party, at a time when some of his endorsements have proven unsuccessful.

He will travel to Selma, North Carolina, for a rally this weekend. Some local Republicans are annoyed that he endorsed Bo Hines over locally based candidates. Hines lives hundreds of miles from the district in which he is running.

This is the latest in a series of mistakes critics say he is making to flex his muscles ahead of the midterm elections in November.

Nevertheless, Trump asserted that if he decides to run, he will be the candidate, while Pence, Pompeo, and DeSantis will stand aside if he runs.

‘If I ran, I can’t imagine they’d want to run. Some out of loyalty would have had a hard time running,’ he noted.

‘I think that most of those people, and almost every name you mentioned, is there because of me. In some cases, because I backed them and endorsed them.

‘You know Ron was at 3 percent, and the day I endorsed him, he won the race.’

Trump was asked whether he “made” DeSantis.

‘As soon as I endorsed him, the race was over,’ Trump answered.

In the interview, he also defended himself against allegations that he may have used a ‘burner’ phone on January 6 last year at the same time a few of his supporters ransacked the Capitol building while hundreds of thousands of others protested peacefully.

A number of news agencies reported last week that Trump’s White House calls during the rioting were missing for more than seven hours.

The president said no records have been destroyed, and he has not used unregistered cell phones.

‘From the standpoint of telephone calls, I don’t remember getting very many,’ according to The Washington Post.

‘Why would I care about who called me? If congressmen were calling me, what difference did it make?

‘There was nothing secretive about it. There was no secret.”

Representative Kevin McCarthy, the Republican leader in the House, has said that he spoke to Trump during the riot, but their conversation details were not recorded by the White House.

Despite the reports, even leftwing CNN said that the story about missing WH phone logs was fake news and that there was nothing missing.

While some question Trump’s grip on the GOP, his enemies are dropping fast.

On Tuesday, MI Rep. Fred Upton (R) announced his resignation from Congress, leaving a 40-percent exit rate among House Republicans who voted to impeach President Donald Trump.

As he was announcing his retirement on Tuesday, Upton cited “very positive” polling results in his primary race in opposition to Trump-endorsed Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI). Due to state redistricting, Huizenga and Upton were both running for the same seat.

“I got a lot of unfinished business that I’m going to be working on now. … But no, this was our decision, independent of what I did with Trump,” Upton stated, referring to his unsuccessful vote to impeach Trump.

Upton is the fourth pro-impeachment Republican to swear off running for reelection. The Republicans include Reps. John Katko (NY), Anthony Gonzalez (OH), and Adam Kinzinger (IL).

Several other Republicans who support impeachment may not make it to the November midterms. There is a tough re-election campaign pending for Reps. Tom Rice (R-SC) and Liz Cheney (R-WY). Rice has been described by Donald Trump as “a disaster,” and he is “laughed at in Washington.”

“Look at every city that’s run by the Democrats if you want safety, security … vote for America First Republicans this November,” Trump declared. “But before we can defeat the Democrat socialists and communists at the ballot boxes … we first have to defeat the RINOS and grandstanders in the primaries.”

Source: The Republic Brief