How is Trump preparing for 2024?

Former President Donald Trump hosted First big rally of Sunday night 2022 in Arizona, and all his familiar old inclinations are on display. He’s so obsessed with the 2020 election that he still false statement was stolen from him. He slams President Biden and the media. He brag great number of. If you’ve spent the past half a decade viewing Trump as a politician, it’s easy to believe that absolutely nothing has changed about him.

But that’s not completely that’s right.

One of Trump’s main characteristics as president is that he doesn’t do his job well. He spent too much time watch Fox News and raging on twitter and sometimes seems to think that his main role in the Oval Office is mess with the media – he is a man loving care but doesn’t seem to care much work. Trump’s narcissism and brief attention span took the lead washington articlesDan Drezner calls him “Toddler in grown,” while The New York Times’ Ross Douthat made the case that the president then was too much.”noise“is a threat to American democracy.

Trump will always be Trump. He is 75 years old; a bit much to expect major changes in his approach or outlook at his age. There are signs, however, that as he prepares for a likely run for re-election in 2024, he is taking a smarter, more systematic approach to acquiring and using wielding power – and perhaps more importantly, his party is shaping up to suit him.

He’s thinking about the Senate. As Biden is currently protesting, to the chagrin of his Democratic comrades, there is only so much a president can do if the legislative branch fails to sign off on his agenda. Trump sometimes seems surprised that he can’t rule the country by decree. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) Happy to give Trump tax cut and Judges because those things are also on his agenda and have been for a long time. But when it comes to Trump’s other priorities – like the ban on rename military bases have been named for Union generals or sent extra stimulus money for Americans during the pandemic – McConnell bails. And of course, McConnell dismissed Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

This time, Trump knows to prepare. His ally, Senator Lindsey Graham (RS.C.) is making noise about replace McConnell with someone friendlier to a president of the time and perhaps in the future. And Trump is also looking to support other Republican candidates for the Senate who will be more flexible. “If Trump is planning to run for president – which all signs suggest, he is – then the most important thing should be to elect more people to the Senate who share his worldview. him,” said an unnamed adviser. Politico last week. “I think the biggest problem Trump had in his first four years was the lack of ideological supporters in the Senate.”

House Republicans are ready to sign on. House GOP members are often more Trumpian than their Senate counterparts, but that’s not always the case with their leaders. Former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) supports an agenda that includes austerity belts and Cut budget that contrasts with Trump’s disdain for fiscal conservatism. Ryan retired after the 2018 election instead of continuing to work with his party’s new leadership.

His successor as Republican leader, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), was more accommodating — most notably the man who led the effort to remove Representative Liz Cheney. (R-Wyoming) from her role as party leader because of her continued opposition to Trump. Axios last week reported that if McCarthy becomes a speaker after the 2022 midterm elections, he plans to “institutionalize key Trump priorities” with proposals to crack down on immigration and tech companies . “We’re going to be more aggressive than before,” McCarthy said.

He’s also interested in state races. trumpet clarify last week that he was very concerned about the statewide races for the officials who will oversee the counting of votes in 2024. “We have to be a lot sharper next time when we count votes,” he said in a statement. video for the Republican Party of Pennsylvania. “Sometimes the person counting the votes is more important than the candidate. They have to be much tougher and smarter.”

Trumpist candidates for secretary of state are on the rise record quantity cash for their campaigns. They are also combining efforts: Jim Marchant, a GOP candidate for secretary of state in Nevada who promoted Trump’s lies about the 2020 election, has promote One League with other people “America First” is full of hope oversee the 2024 election. The obvious goal is to win the White House back to the Republicans.

Trump became president in 2016 almost by accident, joining his celebrity and Twitter frenzy into a job he’s obviously unexpected to keep. It shows. Looking ahead to 2024, however, it seems the former president has a better idea of ​​where the levers of power are, as well as the Republican Party willing to help him push them.

That doesn’t mean he will succeed: impulsiveness always overwhelms his efforts at self-discipline in the past. But Trump may not be that be much smarter or more cunning to become more effective in pursuing your goals. If you think Donald Trump is bad for America, that’s scary news.