Trump 2024 is reportedly a cry for attention

(Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

published 14 December 2020

President Trump reportedly isn't entirely serious about a 2024 run.

As soon as it became clear Trump would lose re-election, speculation started swirling about a potential comeback run in 2024. But as Republicans who've worked with the president tell Politico, Trump is "just as interested in people talking about a Trump 2024 campaign as he is in actually launching a real campaign."

Trump has long been obsessed with the political spotlight, teasing presidential runs for decades before running and winning in 2016. This time around is no different, as Trump reportedly consults with many of his allies who are experts in stirring up attention. They include Fox News host Sean Hannity, former White House communications director and Fox News executive Bill Shine, and election fraud hell-raisers Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie, Politico reports.

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Trump is asking those advisers and others how to build attention to sustain him for the next two years before the next election cycle again. Teasing an announcement but not actually taking the plunge would help Trump avoid financial questions, lingering investigations, and the actual work of building a 2024 campaign, while still giving him the attention he desires, Politico reports. As one former White House aide put it to Politico, "Trump has probably no idea if he will actually run, but because he only cares about himself," he'll still try to "freeze the field and keep" potential 2024 rivals "on the sidelines." It's all "just for the sake of keeping his options open and, yes, keeping the attention all for himself," the aide continued. Read more at Politico.

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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.