Former President Donald Trump indicated that he likely wouldn’t run in 2028 if he loses the Nov. 5 election against Vice President Kamala Harris.
“No, I don’t. I think … that will be it. I don’t see that at all,” he told TV host Sharyl Attkisson on Sunday when asked about vying for the White House for a third time.
“Hopefully, we’re gonna be successful.”
Trump, 78, had been the GOP standard bearer since 2016, and if he did hypothetically vie again in four years, he’d be older than President Biden, 81 — who is the oldest president in US history.
Most polls show Trump running neck and neck against Harris, though the GOP nominee has a history of outperforming surveys.
“I was a very consequential president, and would certainly be, and maybe even more so this time,” Trump declared in the interview on Sinclair broadcastin’s “Full Measure.”
“I understand countries, I understand who rips us and who doesn’t.”
Trump’s entrance into the 2024 arena did little to deter primary competition, but the real estate mogul ultimately bulldozed about a dozen challengers and easily locked down the nomination.
Trump also suggested there was some benefit to being out of office after losing the 2020 election to Biden.
“It would have been easier if I did it, you know, contiguous,” he mused.
“But the benefit is more than anything else, it shows how bad they were. It shows how bad this radical left liberal crazy philosophy is.”
Very few presidents have attempted a nonconsecutive additional term in office, including Martin Van Buren, Millward Fillmore, Ulysses S. Grant and Theodore Roosevelt.
Grover Cleveland is the only one who wound up serving two non-consecutive terms, which he did from 1885 to 1889 and 1893 to 1897.
Trump had also been poised for the first presidential rematch since the 1950s contests between Dwight Eisenhower and Adlai Stevenson. But ultimately, Biden dropped out of the race in July, just before officially receiving the Democratic nomination.
Earlier this month, Trump told podcaster Lex Friedman that he “lost by a whisker” in 2020, though he later claimed he was being sarcastic.
Trump also said that he feels safe and that the threats on his life will not change how he governs as president.
“I think that I will feel safe. I think I’m going to feel safe,” he said.
“I can’t be scared, because if you’re scared, you can’t do your job. So I just can’t be scared.”
Last Sunday, Secret Service opened fire on a suspect after spotting a rifle poking through fencing at Trump International Golf Club West Palm Beach.
Authorities later detained and identified Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, as the suspect. It marked the second time in two months that authorities publicly announced a major investigation into an assassination attempt against Trump.
He also praised the Secret Service agent who chased down the suspected shooter, while ominously reflecting that “nasty things could have happened.”
When asked about what he does to stay healthy, Trump noted that he “used to play golf” but added that it “seems to be quite a dangerous” sport for him at the moment.
During the interview, Trump also reflected that one of his greatest accomplishments from his first term was Operation Warp Speed, in which his administration cut red tape to develop the COVID-19 vaccine.
“I have a friend of mine who said to me, ‘Why don’t you talk about the vaccine?’” Trump recounted. “I don’t talk about it. I can say this, the Democrats love to claim it. The Republicans don’t want to claim it.”
“Overall, I think I did an amazing job with COVID. I never got the credit for it.”
Check back for updates on this developing story.
