Trump Suggests He‘ll Run in 2024, Says Pence Bid Would Be ’Very Disloyal’

Then-President Donald Trump looks on after a news conference with then-Vice President Mike Pence in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington on Feb. 26, 2020. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

Former President Trump announced Saturday that he would “probably” have to run for president again, setting up a possible matchup between he and President Joe Biden for 2024, while declaring that former Trump administration officials who make a White House bid would be “very disloyal.”

During a rally in Robstown, Texas, Trump told a crowd: “I ran twice. I won twice. I did much better the second time than I did before.”

“And now, in order to make our country successful, safe and glorious again, I will probably have to do it again,” he added during the rally, which was being held for candidates in the Lone Star State. As soon as he made that statement, the crowd cheered and indicated they wanted Trump to run again.

The former president has not made any definitive statements on whether he would run for the nation’s highest office, but he has strongly suggested that he would in numerous speeches and interviews after departing office in January 2021. The reason why, according to Trump, is due to what he described as antiquated campaign-finance laws around presidential announcements.

“The silent majority is back stronger than ever before,” Trump said Saturday. “My fellow citizens, this incredible journey we are on together has only just begun.”

If Trump were to make an announcement, it would likely trigger action by the Federal Election Commission in regards to his finances, limiting how much he could pull in from donors.

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Two days before the rally, Trump also weighed in on if former Vice President Mike Pence or other cabinet members run for president. Former CIA Director and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley have also signaled they might run for president.

Former President Donald Trump arrives at the "Save America" rally in Robstown, Texas, on Oct. 22, 2022. Brandon Bell/Getty Images

“Many of them have said they would never run if I run, so we’ll see whether or not that turns out to be true,” the former president told Fox News on Oct. 20. “I think it would be very disloyal if they did,” Trump added.

It comes as the House Jan. 6 committee formally sent Trump a subpoena on Friday for alleged involvement during the breach at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. A week before that, during the final public hearing on the Capitol breach, the panel voted unanimously to subpoena the former president.

The subpoena requests communications between Trump and staff, aides, and colleagues from the encrypted messaging app Signal. It also seeks documents from the 45th president.

It’s not clear if Trump will comply with the subpoena. But after the vote, he issued a lengthy memo to the committee and declared that he told protesters on Jan. 6 to “peacefully and patriotically” make their voices heard.

Trump and former White House officials said the subpoena is a politically motivated charade designed to influence the 2022 midterms.

“If President Trump was central to the January 6th Committee’s proceedings, why are they ending with him rather than starting with him?” former top Trump administration aide Kellyanne Conway told Fox News on Oct. 21. “With a few weeks before the midterm elections and a few months until Republicans assume majority control of Congress, reasonable people can be excused for thinking this subpoena is somewhere between symbolic and suspicious.”