I get it. We’re all exhausted from four years of racism, bigotry, misogyny, incoherence, incompetence and proto-fascism. But Donald J. Trump ain’t going away; he’ll be campaigning from now until 2024 simply because he literally can’t afford not to.
The Washington Post’s Paul Waldman tries to reassure us that Trump will fade — albeit ungracefully — away:
The prospect of a 2024 run is politically significant. It’s also a complete fiction. Donald Trump will not be running for president again. He will, however, continue to tease the possibility of a 2024 run — not just right now, but also for the next three years or so, perhaps right up to the Iowa caucuses in January 2024. There are a number of reasons why, but one stands above the others: As long as we think he might run, there’s still reason to pay attention to him and talk about him and act like he’s important.
Waldman does amazing work at The Washington Post, putting news in context and investigating the background to so much of what happens. But he is wrong about this, because he forgets that Trump monetizes everything.
Does Trump need constant adulation and attention? Of course. That’s why, despite what Waldman predicts, expect the rallies to continue — with the local GOP picking up the tab or selling tickets to the marks MAGA faithful. And that reveals why Trump must run in 2024. He needs the money.
Trump has $400 million in personal loans coming due very, very soon, coming at a time when foreign leaders and Republican lickspittles no longer have a reason to deliver money to Trump properties in pay-to-play schemes. Already, Trump is using his doomed lawsuits to beg his cult members for money; the vast majority of the receipts are being split between Trump’s new Save America PAC and the Republican National Committee. Save America is a so-called leadership PAC, which allows the owner to use the money for personal expenses, including travel and stays at Trump properties.
In other words, if Trump launches another run, he can use either Save America or yet another slush fund as his piggy bank. Waldman points out that the narcissistic Trump won’t want to risk another thumping. That’s true, but Trump can pretend to run for four years, scoop up millions of dollars from true believers and from those who know better but want to rent Trump’s bully pulpit. As long as Trump drops out before the Iowa Caucus, he can reap all of the benefit of nonstop grifting without ever having to risk any rejection.
This is the man who came up with an excuse to avoid commemorating the American dead at Belleau Wood, France, to save his hairdo; he won’t have any problem coming up with a reason why he needs to drop out before facing a single voter. A grifter like Trump is not about to leave money on the table. Expect Trump 2024.
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