Donald Trump Will Run In 2024 If He Loses To Joe Biden, Says Former White House Official

Mick Mulvaney, the U.S. Special Envoy for Northern Ireland, said on Thursday that he expects President Donald Trump to run for presidency again if he loses to Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, The Irish Times reported.

Biden has not yet officially won the presidency, but he seems poised to do so, having been projected the winner in a number of key states. Regardless of whether Biden wins or not, Trump is not going away, according to Mulvaney, who previously served as White House chief of staff.

Speaking during a webinar hosted by the Dublin think tank, the Institute for International and European Affairs, Mulvaney said that Trump does not like losing and pointed out that he would be younger than Biden is now if he decided to run in four years.

“I would absolutely expect the president to stay involved in politics and would absolutely put him on the shortlist of people who are likely to run in 2024.”

Mulvaney described Trump as a “very high-energy 74-year-old,” saying that he expects him to be “further engaged in 2024 or 2028 if he were to lose this next election.”

Mulvaney discussed the ongoing legal battles and the Trump campaign’s allegations of electoral fraud, stating that lawsuits are always “part of close elections.”

He said that it is not surprising there are “lawsuits and it is not a tacit admission of loss, any more than it is a declaration of victory.”

The former White House chief of staff noted that the Biden campaign has hired a number of lawyers as well and pointed to the controversial 2000 election, when Republican George W. Bush defeated Democrat Al Gore.

Still, Mulvaney insisted, there will be a “peaceful transition or retention of power” in January.

It has already been speculated that Trump may mount another bid for the White House. CNN correspondent Jim Acosta reported on Thursday that some advisers are raising the possibility of him running in 2024.

“This possibility has been discussed, I’m told, inside the Trump campaign by some aides and advisers, and some have even talked about it with the president himself,” he said.

Acosta noted that this suggests Trump and his team have accepted defeat, despite taking legal action and disputing the results.

Similarly, Bryan Lanza, former communications director for Trump’s 2016 transition team, argued in a recent interview that he would easily win the Republican nomination and dismissed concerns about his age.

According to CNN, Republican Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida, Ted Cruz of Texas and Tom Cotton of Arkansas all have presidential ambitions.