Will Trump Run in 2024? There’s a Reason Why He Won’t Say

A missive arrived Monday from the outer reaches of the Trump Expanded Universe heralding the formation of “Make America Great Again, Again!,” a new political action committee “approved” by former President Trump. In reality, MAGAA is simply a rebrand for MAGA Action, the super PAC helmed by former Trump adviser Corey Lewandowski until he was jettisoned from Trump’s orbit last week after a donor accused him of sexual harassment. This particular universe is used to such scandal-based reshuffling.

Another tidbit from reality: Trump very much seems like he is running for president in 2024, which according to campaign finance law should prohibit him from coordinating with super PACs like MAGAA, or his leadership PAC Save America, which together brought in north of $80 million in the first half of this year. Trump is able to coordinate with those PACs, though — and use their money to finance his travel, his campaign-style rallies, his God knows what else — because he hasn’t yet officially declared his candidacy. The former president is then, in essence, running what appears to be a shadow campaign designed to skirt campaign finance regulations while holding the still-distant race for the Republican nomination hostage.

In other words, Trump is back in the spotlight, and back to his old tricks.

“He’s in this unique situation where he is trying to exert influence in the political arena, trying to raise money in advance for a race, and trying to freeze out other candidates more than three years out,” says Noah Bookbinder, president of the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. “He’s trying to get all those benefits of being in the race while also getting the benefits of not being in the race, and you could certainly imagine that he will try for the next year-plus to have his cake and eat it, too.”

The Washington Post on Monday pulled back the curtain on this early “wink-and-nod” campaign strategy Trump’s advisers convinced him to adopt after he raised the prospect of declaring his candidacy following the withdrawal from Afghanistan. He was told it would be best to hold off announcing because, A) He doesn’t want his candidacy blamed for a poor Republican showing in the 2022 midterms, and B) All of the aforementioned financial activity that could help Trump both personally and presidentially in ways that might not be possible — or would at least be more difficult — were he to declare himself a candidate.

Trump agreed, and it appears he will continue to say he’s running for president without actually saying he’s running for president (and in some cases, actually saying it). The Post reported that of 13 current and former advisers surveyed, 10 said they believed he will run in 2024, and that Trump has been regularly telling people, “I’m running,” another, uhh, pretty solid indication that he’s planning to run. So is the fact that Rolling Stone reported in July that Trump had spent the…