In what has become his regular ritual of keeping everyone in suspense, former President Donald Trump said he will "probably" wait until after the 2022 midterm elections to announce whether he will run for president in 2024.
In an interview with Fox News, Trump yet again stated that he is "certainly thinking about it and we’ll see."
"I think a lot of people will be very happy, frankly, with the decision, and probably will announce that after the midterms."
That schedule, according to the former president, was "probably appropriate."
"It doesn’t mean I will," Trump said, however, of whether he will stick to that timeline. "It’s probably appropriate, but a lot of people are waiting for that decision to be made."
According to Trump, "a lot of great people who are thinking about running are waiting for that decision, because they’re not going to run if I run."
He also said that his potential rivals within the Republican party are "all very well named," but on the other hand, he stated, "almost all of them said if I run, they’ll never run."
"And that’s nice, primarily because it shows a great degree of loyalty and respect," he added.
Regarding a possible running mate, Trump stated that the Republican Party has "a lot of great people." When asked if he would consider Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as his vice-presidential hopeful, Trump responded, "He’s a good man, but we have a lot of great people. He’s been good."
Interestingly, in response to a question about whether he would consider former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, the former president stated that she "every once in a while goes off the rails, and she comes back, which is nice."
"She said she’d never run if I ran, which I think is a good sign of respect," Trump noted. "I was very good to her, I thought she did a very good job at what she did with the United Nations. She did an excellent job."
Nevertheless, the former president said that the party has "so many people" whom he considers to be "good" and who "would be great for that."
"So, you know, it’s very early to be talking about it," he concluded.
Trump was asked about his 2024 plans by Fox News in September, and back then he claimed that he did not see any other options besides himself running.
"I don't think we're going to have a choice," Trump said. "It is getting to a point where we really have no choice."
In the meantime, the fall in Biden's approval rating in the first year of his reign has already broken records among all recent presidents. According to one poll, the Democratic president's approval does not exceed 38%, while more than two-thirds of Americans do not want Biden to be re-elected at the moment.
Moreover, Republicans tend to rate their chances of winning the 2024 presidential election with ex-president Trump at the top of the ticket higher than Democrats rate their chances with Biden as the nominee, a Marist Institute for Public Opinion poll showed.