Stephen L. Miller

What is the point of another Trump presidential campaign?

(Credit: Getty images)

It was always assumed that the moment Donald Trump walked out of the White House on the morning of Joe Biden’s inauguration, he would begin angling for a second non-consecutive term in 2024. A year ago, he launched his own Twitter imitation platform, Truth Social, and then in November he officially launched his presidential campaign. His speech was met with tepid enthusiasm, even by some of his most ardent supporters.

The only apparent reason for another Trump candidacy is because he wants to avenge his 2020 loss like a boxer

In the weeks since, Trump has spent his time on Truth Social attacking Republicans and prospective rival candidates and once again defending himself from the many lawsuits and scandals he finds himself in. That includes his imbroglio with Stormy Daniels and an unexpected dinner with Kanye West, Milo Yiannopoulos and Nick Fuentes.

But despite all the obvious signs that Trump was going to run again, it’s not clear that he, those close to him, or anyone in the punditocracy stopped to ask why.

Why does he want to do this? If you ask this question on Twitter, his supporters will reply ‘to make the country great again’ or something along those lines. But that’s not really a sufficient answer. America is a much changed country in 2023 compared to where it was in 2015 — and Trump will be forced to be a different candidate. He cannot run as an insurgent billionaire outsider, setting out to smash the corrupt system and drain the Swamp. With every new proposition or policy, Trump will be pressed on why he didn’t do this in his first term. We already know how he’ll respond: ‘The Deep State… bad actors within my White House… stymying my agenda…’ But will that cut it with voters?

Trump now finds himself as a post-pandemic candidate after being a pre-pandemic president, trapped by his usual bluster of blaming officials he hired, or never fired, over the way the Covid response was handled.

Already a subscriber? Log in

Keep reading with a free trial

Subscribe and get your first month of online and app access for free. After that it’s just £1 a week.

There’s no commitment, you can cancel any time.

Or

Unlock more articles

REGISTER

Comments

Don't miss out

Join the conversation with other Spectator readers. Subscribe to leave a comment.

Already a subscriber? Log in