Former president Donald Trump plans to run for president again in 2024, according to his dinner buddies and a former adviser.
Rolling Stone reported Monday that Trump has told at least three people he's dined with in recent months that he plans to run.
"I have three friends who've had dinner with him in the last couple of months," a former senior official at the Republican National Committee told the magazine. "All three reported that his current plans are to run for president in 2024. Now, whether he does or not is a different issue. We've still got three years to go. But he's telling people that."
The report was confirmed by a former Trump adviser who speaks regularly with members of the former president's inner circle. The former adviser said Trump began to give indications in private in May that he was leaning toward running again.
"All the people I talk to who deal with him directly think as of now he is running," the former adviser said.
Trump has not said publicly whether he plans to run, but that could be because a formal announcement would trigger campaign-finance laws. In another sign he plans to run, Trump's Save America PAC reportedly has $85 million on hand.
"There are, of course, plenty of reasons why he won't end up running: his old age, say, or the potential legal jeopardy he faces through his now-indicted company. But if the last six years have taught us anything, what fuels him is the attention of the media and adulation of his supporters," Rolling Stone's Andy Kroll reports. "Post-presidency and on a social-media timeout, he's lost his platform and most of his audience. A third run for president would go a long way toward bringing it all back."
