Trump Says He’s Made Up His Mind on 2024 Run

The former president has managed to hold both supporters and adversaries inside and outside the Republican Party in suspense for over a year-and-a-half regarding whether he will take another shot at the Oval Office in 2024. On Wednesday, President Joe Biden said he “would not be disappointed” if he had to face off against his 2020 rival again.

Former President Donald Trump has indicated that he’s made up his mind about running again in the next presidential election, and said the only question is when he will make a formal announcement.

“Look, I feel very confident that, if I decide to run, I’ll win,” Trump told New York Magazine in an interview published Thursday. “In my own mind, I’ve already made that decision, so nothing factors in anymore. In my own mind, I’ve already made that decision.”

“I would say my big decision will be whether I go before or after. You understand what that means?” Trump added, explaining that he was referring to the upcoming November midterm vote.

Trump said there were certain advantages to announcing early, explaining that if he made an announcement before the midterms, it would “let people know” and make it so that “a lot of people would not even run” for the nomination of the Republican Party, “because if you look at the polls, they don’t even register, most of these people.”

Trump boasted that his biggest would-be rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, knows he would lose if he attempted to challenge him. “I endorsed Ron, he was at 3 [percent], and as soon as I endorsed him, he went to first place,” he said, referring to the 2018 Florida gubernatorial race. “We have a good relationship, and there may be some others soon, but that’s ok,” Trump added.

A New York Times/Siena College poll this week found Trump leading the raft of potential Republican nominees for president with 49 percent support, and DeSantis trailing him with 25 percent. No other potential contender broke 10 percent, with Texas Senator Ted Cruz and former Vice President Mike Pence getting 7 and 6 percent support, respectively.

President Biden, who defeated Trump in the 2020 election (the results of which Trump has publicly challenged), said Wednesday that he would “not be disappointed” to face off against his 2020 adversary a second time.

However, a separate NYT/Siena College poll found that 64 percent of Democrats would like to see Biden replaced by another candidate in 2024. Last month, dozens of Democrats ranging from high-profile officials to rank-and-file members told the newspaper that Biden’s flagging mental state, and his association in the minds of voters with surging inflation, skyrocketing gas prices, the Supreme Court ruling to roll back federal abortion protections, and the stalling of the "Build Back Better" and voting rights agendas in Congress will likely cost them dearly in the midterms. Accordingly, Democratic National Committee member Steve Simeonidis encouraged Biden to “announce his intent not to seek reelection in ’24 right after the midterms.”

A Biden-Trump race in 2024 would push the United States further toward rule by geriatrics than it has ever been before, with Mr. Biden expected to hit 82 years of age upon his possible inauguration in January 2025, and Trump hitting 78, the same age Biden was when he stepped into office in 2021. Before them, Ronald Reagan was the oldest president in US history, reaching 69 years old in January 1981, and leaving office suffering from Alzheimer’s at the age of 77 in 1989.

A poll by Politico/Morning Consult released Tuesday showed that 61 percent of respondents did not want Trump to run again, with 64 percent expressing the same opinion regarding Biden. Trump’s supporters have stuck by their candidate, viewing him as the only one who hasn’t been entirely consumed by the US Deep State.