Trump won’t run in 2024 because he cannot face being seen as a loser, says his former chief of staff

Trump has not yet officially announced a 2024 run

John Kelly, Donald Trump’s longest-serving chief of staff, has predicted that the former president won’t run in the 2024 elections because “he simply cannot be seen as a loser”.

“Trump won’t run,” said Mr Kelly, adding: “He’ll continue talking about it; he may even declare, but he will not run.”

Mr Kelly is a former Homeland Security secretary who served as Mr Trump’s chief of staff for more that a year.

John Bolton, who was Mr Trump’s former national security adviser, had also said that he doesn’t believe Mr Trump will run.

He told the Atlantic: “Imagine what would happen if he said, ‘After careful consideration, I won’t be a candidate in 2024.’ You can hear the spotlight switches turning off. He’ll talk about it [running for president again] right up until the point when he doesn’t.”

Mr Trump, meanwhile, has not been clear on his decision over the 2024 elections.

In an interview with Fox News, he said he will “probably” wait until after the 2022 midterm elections to finally announce whether he’ll run or not.

Mr Trump said: “I think a lot of people will be very happy, frankly, with the decision.”

Earlier this week, Politico reported that as Mr Trump gears up for the 2024 election campaign, he is aiming to choose his vice presidential candidate based on the person’s sense of loyalty and support.

John McLaughlin, one of Mr Trump’s campaign pollsters and strategic consultants, was quoted as saying: “A lot of times, a presidential candidate will pick a running mate to balance out wings of the party. But with Trump, that’s not the issue. He is the party, basically. It’s so united behind him. So his choice, if he runs, will come down to what he wants. It would be a much more personal decision this time.”

Meanwhile, Mr Trump has name-dropped Florida governor Ron DeSantis as one of the potential VP candidates.