Trump Stumps Crystal Ball Or No On 2024 Candidacy?

WSJ columnist Holman Jenkins asks “why would Donald Trump be selling his DC hotel if he was going to run for re-election in 2024?” Well, maybe because he loves power, himself, country & God in no particular order?

Mr. Jenkins’ “Is Donald Trump Finished?” does give a mounting litany of ammunition No. 45 will be able to use against a doddering hack Joe Biden & his radical Democrat handlers in any such future showdown. Covid chaos: Border chaos; Crime chaos; Environment chaos; Inflation chaos; Job chaos; & Afghanistan chaos. “It would be hard,” he says, for a Joe Blow to argue “things were all that worse" under The Donald. On the other hand, Jenkins reminds of Mr. Trump’s inability to discipline himself in his public musings that caused many hard feelings; he recalled Trump's lack of a “long game” coupled with a tendency to meet problems as they arise, thereby leaving old problems to fester. As a result, Mr. Trump, no spring chicken himself, must know his “base” is not as strong as it woulda, coulda, shoulda been for a 2022 rerun.

But, perhaps the strongest hint at Mr. Trump might be happy to just “pick the next” GOP nominee, says Mr. Jenkins, is the number of wanna-bes “lining up outside Mar A Lago.” Maybe an even better bellwether are the number of wanna-bes already parading through Iowa & New Hampshire in anticipation of the early 2024 primaries AND the fact that the parade includes thick & thin loyalists like Trump’s SOS Mike Pompeo & VP Mike Pence as well as reliable Senate supporters Ted Cruz & Tim Scott. Hard to imagine those equally ambitious yet experienced pols making the rounds in full view if The Boss didn’t like it. Yet, there's that wild card, i.e., power, God & country calling you know who to work his butt off again.

Davd Soul