Here we go again, folks. Another book about Donald Trump. Another round of gossip. Another round of debating whether any of this happened. Most books about the Trump White House generated some attention but ultimately fizzled out because, well—a lot of it turned out to be a pile of crap. In this particular story, we need to wonder because, if true, this could be bad news for the Republican Party. Trump allegedly threatened to launch a third party again in a raucous phone call with Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel (via ABC News):
In an angry conversation on his final day as president, Donald Trump told the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee he was leaving the GOP and creating his own political party -- and that he didn't care if the move would destroy the Republican Party, according to a new book by ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl.
Trump only backed down when Republican leaders threatened to take actions that would have cost Trump millions of dollars, Karl writes his upcoming book, "Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show."
[…]
"[RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel] called to wish him farewell. It was a very un-pleasant conversation," Karl writes in "Betrayal," set to be released on Nov. 16.
"Donald Trump was in no mood for small talk or nostalgic goodbyes," Karl writes. "He got right to the point. He told her he was leaving the Republican Party and would be creating his own political party. The president's son, Donald Trump Jr., was also on the phone. The younger Trump had been relentlessly denigrating the RNC for being insufficiently loyal to Trump. In fact, at the January 6 rally before the Capitol Riot, the younger Trump all but declared that the old Republican Party didn't exist anymore."
With just hours left in his presidency, Trump was telling the Republican Party chairwoman that he was leaving the party entirely. The description of this conversation and the discussions that followed come from two sources with direct knowledge of these events.
"I'm done," Trump told McDaniel. "I'm starting my own party."
— Rick Klein (@rickklein) November 8, 2021
"You cannot do that," McDaniel told Trump. "If you do, we will lose forever."
"Exactly. You lose forever without me," Trump responded. "I don't care."
Well, it's been months—and Trump hasn't launched the schism yet. Will it happen? Let's hope not. In the beginning, yes—I admit that if Trump had done this, I wouldn't be first in line to join this new party. But frankly, what the GOP did after their tremendous 2021elections makes no sense and feeds the sentiment that the party should be blown up. It was clear that the nation is rejecting the Biden agenda. And what do they do days later? They help Nancy Pelosi pass the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill (BIF).
Still, the effect of a Trump third party would be a splitting of the conservative vote and a Democrat win. You all know this, and if I were Trump—I wouldn't dabble in this third party nonsense anymore, no matter how many times the GOP makes the wrong move. For starters, the GOP is the Trump party. Liz Cheney is alone on her island. Adam Kinzinger is doing what these Never Trump clowns do best: quit. The lion share of the Republican base wants Trump to run again. And a near equal number wants him to be a significant player in shaping the future of the party. So, why leave and start from scratch when the GOP has become your dojo, Mr. Trump?
Again, how many times have we heard that Trump was going to start a third party? Too many to count. As with anyone when they're angry, Trump's tempers are loud and volatile, but he comes down to earth every time.