GOP White House hopefuls wait to see what Trump does next

When a party loses the White House, a new crop of presidential hopefuls typically begin moving quickly to lay the groundwork for a run in the next campaign. Not this year. President Donald Trump’s increasingly overt flirtations with running again in 2024 are freezing the potentially vast field of Republican candidates. GOP White House hopefuls are essentially left to watch what Trump does next instead of courting fundraisers, building networks and visiting earlyvoting states — the usual campaign planning steps — for fear of angering Trump and risking turning off his large and loyal base.

And that’s just the way the president likes it, ensuring he stays in the spotlight and generating the cash and media coverage he craves. But strategists say Trump is essentially leaving the party in a holding pattern, with could-becandidates unable to prepare as they try to avoid crossing a notoriously unforgiving president who has an enormous Twitter bullhorn and little tolerance for perceived disloyalty.

“Trump is delaying the start of the 2024 campaign in a significant way,” said

Alex Conant, a Republican operative who served as communications director to Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s 2016 presidential campaign. In a normal campaign cycle, Conant said, “you would see potential presidential candidates in Iowa and New Hampshire this month.” This year, “That’s not going to happen because nobody wants to be seen as challenging Trump.”

Grover Cleveland was the last — and so far only — president to win the White House after being defeated for reelection, and that was more than a century ago. Trump has been increasingly vocal about his desire to follow that path.

“I don’t want to wait till 2024. I want to go back three weeks,” he said at a rally Saturday evening in Georgia. That followed comments during a White House Christmas party this past week when Trump said, “We’re trying to do another four years. Otherwise, I’ll see you in four years.”

Such overtures are particularly problematic for the current and former administration officials considered among the likely contenders, including Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Trump’s former ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley.