Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows suggested that former President Donald Trump may be eyeing another run at the White House following conversations with his administration's cabinet members.
During a Friday interview on Newsmax’s Cortes & Pellegrino, Meadows said that Trump had been meeting with “some of our cabinet members,” including earlier in the day, and they were looking to “move forward in a real way.”
“We met with several of our cabinet members tonight," Meadows told host Steve Cortes. "We actually had a follow-up ... meeting with some of our cabinet members. And as we were looking at that, we were looking at what does come next.”
“I’m not authorized to speak on behalf of the president, but I can tell you this, Steve; we wouldn’t be meeting tonight if we weren’t making plans to move forward in a real way, with President Trump at the head of that ticket,” he continued.
While Meadows did not directly say that the Trump is seeking a second presidential term in 2024, he did seem to suggest that a campaign run for the former president could be in the cards.
Trump has previously hinted that a 2024 run is a possibility but has yet to directly say what his intentions were. He told Fox News’ Sean Hannity that he has made a decision on a 2024 bid, but he would not say exactly what it was.
“It's not that I want to," Trump told Hannity. "The country needs it. We have to take care of this country. I don't want to, is this fun? Fighting constantly? Fighting always? I mean, the country, what we have done is so important."
At a straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference’s (CPAC) earlier this month, 70 percent of respondents said they would vote for Trump in 2024, a significant lead over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who came in second, with 21 percent support.
However, CPAC largely consists of staunch supporters of Trump, meaning that the former president would not have an easy primary win in 2024 should he run again.
In a June straw poll taken at the Western Conservative Summit in Denver, DeSantis beat Trump with 74 percent support, compared to the one-time president's 71 percent.
Trump, however, continues to have a stronghold on the GOP as he remains the most popular figure in the Republican party.