Trump practically begs ex-Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz to run for president

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz.
(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz is getting very close to an independent bid for president, and Democrats aren't happy about it. President Trump, on the other hand, couldn't be more thrilled.

In a Monday morning tweet, Trump responded to Schultz's Sunday night announcement that he is "seriously considering" a 2020 run.

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Trump's agreement that Schultz is "not the 'smartest person'" is a reference to Schultz telling 60 Minutes he has "a long history of recognizing I'm not the smartest person in the room" and consulting other voices to fix problems he doesn't understand. But it comes off as a solid taunt, and shows Trump "clearly is daring Schultz to run, knowing he'd pull votes away from" Democratic challengers, CNN's Manu Raju says.

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And then there's Trump's claim that he hopes "Starbucks is still paying me their rent in Trump Tower." It's unclear why Trump suggested he's profiting from the Trump Organization-owned building, seeing as he said just after his 2016 election that he'd leave his "great business in total."

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Kathryn Krawczyk

Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.