Would-be rivals apprehensive of the prospect of Trump’s 2024 White House bid

Potential 2024 Republican presidential candidates are worried about former US President Donald Trump’s increasingly aggressive flirtation with a third presidential run, according to a report.

For months, Trump, a Republican, has floated the idea of a 2024 rematch against Democratic President Joe Biden. But in recent weeks, he has signaled strongly that he may be more likely to run again than not, according to a report published by The Hill, a Washington-based newspaper, on Friday.

Trump’s statements have intensified a collective headache for other would-be presidential contenders who have already started laying the groundwork for their own primary campaigns, according to the report.

The report says that Trump is still the most influential Republican in the country, and there’s little appetite within the GOP to challenge him for the 2024 presidential nod.

Polls show that Trump dominates any potential primary opponent by wide margins, although a lot can still happen between now and 2024.

“I think [Trump running] feels like more of a possibility now than it did before,” an aide to one Republican eyeing a 2024 run said. “That doesn’t mean you stop what you’re doing altogether. Until he says what he’s going to do, that’s not an option.”

“That being said, yeah, I think he’s putting a lot of candidates on notice, reminding them that he’s still in the mix.”

Trump has taken steps in recent weeks that suggest a keen interest in another presidential campaign. He has increased his media appearances and issued more press statements, and he’s planning upcoming rallies in Georgia and Iowa.

Jason Miller, a senior adviser to Trump’s 2020 campaign and one of the former president’s close associates, said last week that the likelihood that Trump will run again is “somewhere between 99 and 100 percent.”

“I think he is definitely running in 2024,” Miller said. “He has not said the magical words to me, but if you talk to him for a few minutes it’s pretty clear that he’s running, and I think just what we’ve seen unfold in Afghanistan recently has really just emboldened that.”

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), one of Trump’s close allies in Congress, also recently reportedly said that Trump was virtually guaranteed to run for the White House again, especially after the chaotic US retreat from Afghanistan last month.

“President Trump, he’s going to run again,” Jordan said. “I know so. I talked to him yesterday. He's about ready to announce after all of this craziness in Afghanistan.”

According to a recent poll, a majority of Americans believe it would be bad for the United States if Trump ran for the White House in 2024.

The Quinnipiac University poll, released last month, found that 60 percent of respondents said it would be bad for the country if Trump launched a presidential bid in 2024.

However, about one-third, 32 percent, of respondents said another Trump campaign would be good for the United States.

Trump has been mulling over for months whether he will throw his hat in the ring for a third attempt at the presidency. Last month, Trump said he has made up his mind on whether he will run for the office again in 2024. That decision, however, remains unknown.

60 percent of Americans say it would be bad for US if Trump ran in 2024

A majority of Americans believe it would be bad for the country if Trump ran for the White House in 2024, according to a new poll.

However, Trump has told allies he is considering another White House bid. That would complicate life for a long list of other Republicans considering a 2024 run - including Vice President Mike Pence, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley and Senators Marco Rubio and Tom Cotton - who would have to weigh whether to take on Trump.

Haley, however, has already said that she “would not run if President Trump ran.” Likewise, Mark Meadows, Trump’s former chief of staff, said earlier this year that he does not expect Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to run for president if Trump enters the race.

DeSantis dismissed talk of a potential 2024 run on Tuesday, describing the speculation about his political ambitions as “manufactured.”

“All the speculation about me is purely manufactured,” said DeSantis during a news conference in St. Cloud, Fla. “I just do my job. You know, we work hard ... I hear all this stuff and honestly, it’s nonsense. So, you know, I don’t really know what to say to the rumors.”

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