--- title: Why Republicans Don't Want Trump Announcing 2024 Run Soon description: If Trump announces soon, GOP candidates will be forced to respond, and risk alienating their base, independents, or both. canonical: https://time.com/6197710/trump-2024-midterms-republicans/ author: Philip Elliott article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2022-07-15T16:02:46.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:06:06.069Z article:section: Politics og:title: Why Republicans Hope Trump Doesn't Declare Soon (or Ever) og:description: GOP candidates hoping for a November wave will have to weigh in, and risk alienating their base, independents, or both. og:url: https://time.com/6197710/trump-2024-midterms-republicans/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt593069f7a4ba373c/698a33c0db29871dbf26801c/donald-trump-2024.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2400 og:image:height: 1350 og:image:alt: Former President Trump Campaigns With House Candidate Sarah Palin And Senate Candidate Kelly Tshibaka In Anchorage, Alaska og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why Republicans Hope Trump Doesn't Declare Soon (or Ever) twitter:description: GOP candidates hoping for a November wave will have to weigh in, and risk alienating their base, independents, or both. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt593069f7a4ba373c/698a33c0db29871dbf26801c/donald-trump-2024.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why Republicans Don't Want Trump to Announce a 2024 Run Soon (or Ever) > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. Senior correspondent Philip Elliott brings sharp context to the issues driving the capital, connecting the decisions made in Washington to the institutions, industries and people they affect. It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=5751094a-51b8-40a0-9216-34ef3d0c9b3a&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Monday to Saturday (3x per week) | TIME, August 2026 | | Written by | Philip Elliott, Senior Correspondent | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership The policy influence ecosystem. A policy-focused audience spanning government, public affairs, advocacy, law, research, political media, and the institutions that make, interpret and respond to public policy. ### TIME D.C. Brief: key statements * D.C. Brief is edited by TIME journalists. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: The Stories Behind Donald Trump's TIME Covers [Watch (HLS stream): The Stories Behind Donald Trump's TIME Covers](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/W8uZ13Pz.m3u8) (5:07)  _Published 2021-01-21. TIME's D.W. Pine looks back at the various covers featuring Donald Trump, from his first appearance in 1989 to the end of his presidency._  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Jul 15, 2022 4:02 PM UTC  President Donald Trump greets supporters during a "Save America" rally at Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage on July 9, 2022. President Donald Trump greets supporters during a "Save America" rally at Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage on July 9, 2022. Justin Sullivan—Getty Images  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Jul 15, 2022 4:02 PM UTC _This article is part of The D.C. Brief, TIME’s politics newsletter. Sign up_ [_here_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/signup?nln=dc-brief&source=dc%5Fonsite) _to get stories like this sent to your inbox._ At this point, it’s a question of _will he?_ or _will he?_ as the 2024 field starts to take shape with ex-President Donald Trump atop the Republican heap. The former leader has been quietly taking informal polls of his backers and donors, asking for their advice as he lays the groundwork for his political comeback. Sometimes by phone, often at his golf clubs in Florida and New Jersey, and even at a series of in-person, free-flowing [dinners](https://www.politico.com/news/2022/07/13/trump-2024-secret-donor-dinners-00045665), the gab fests are as much about Trump sounding out ideas as soliciting praise for his talents. Trump even went so far as to [tell](https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/donald-trump-2024-decision.html) _New York_ magazine that he’s made a decision and the only question for him was when to announce. “Well, in my own mind, I’ve already made that decision, so nothing factors in anymore. In my own mind, I’ve already made that decision,” Trump told the magazine. “I would say my big decision will be whether I go before or after,” he said, basing his B.C. and A.D. fulcrum on this November’s midterm elections. --- ### More from TIME --- Hence the low [groan](https://www.politico.com/news/2022/07/15/dems-dreaming-of-trump-pre-midterm-announcement-00045969) of [anxiety](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/14/trump-2024-announcement-fall/) from the grill at the Capitol Hill Club, the cozy members-only haven for Republicans. If Trump is now in the race, that’s a huge suck on the finite political oxygen available to GOP candidates on the ballot this year—not to mention a hit on Republican fundraising given how Trump is likely to hoover up millions that House and Senate candidates need more immediately. A Trump entrance stands to feed his ego and starve the broader GOP. Republicans, meanwhile, can rationalize that a Trump 2024 bid would at least distract the ex-President from his continued sulking over his 2020 loss. The sooner Trump starts on a new project and drops his failed last project, the better Republicans may fare this fall, when they stand poised to have a very good showing. Trump, no doubt, starts the not-so-quiet march toward the 2024 starting gun as the man to beat. There is no one in the mainstream universe of candidates who has his level of name recognition, his access to unmatched donor rolls, and a sense of what animates the Republican Party that he remade in his likeness. Trump’s hold over the modern GOP is as remarkable as it is shocking, and many party insiders question if there is anyone who could deny him the nomination, including any of the prosecutors circling him and his businesses. Unlike other candidates, he doesn’t need a long runway to take off; he begins as an Elon-Musk-like creation ready to rocket straight up. Still, though, Republicans are not in universal agreement about Trump’s place in the field. A number of public polls indicate that Trump is the favorite of roughly half of Republicans, suggesting that a consensus alternative could emerge. That could yield a repeat of 2016, when Trump dominated a fractured field that never quite settled on a Not-Trump contender until Ted Cruz made his [last stand](https://time.com/4313770/ted-cruz-indiana-troubles/) in Indiana, at which point it was too late. Several of Trump’s likely rivals have [started](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/06/11/republican-president-2024-trump/) their own posturing ahead of 2024, telling donors and potential staff that they will not make their determinations based solely on Trump’s plans. Early-nominating states like New Hampshire and Nevada have already started seeing those would-be candidates show up at party dinners and picnics, courting activists who can make—or break—candidacies based on parochial whims. But those candidates are taking care to stay inside the lines of campaign finance laws. Once a would-be contender says the magic words declaring themselves a candidate, a whole host of restrictions and requirements snap into place, including limits on fundraising and requirements for disclosures. Trump, it seems, cannot be boxed in on those fronts. That has many Republicans less than pleased, because if Trump starts his own run right now, he becomes the story of the cycle. So far, many Republican strategists are telling their clients on ballots this year that they can keep 2024 discussions at arm’s length. Many have hemmed and hawed that without knowing who is running, their pick is irreverent. Once Trump is in the race, such pat answers will no longer be enough. The candidates will have to have a take on his candidacy, and a full embrace could be simultaneously required to keep the party’s base happy and disqualifying with moderate voters who, at least right now, are plenty sour on how Democrats in control of Washington have spent the last two years. The Republican Party has shown time and again that it is either unable or unwilling to control Trump. The Republican National Committee never found a way to curb Trump’s impulses as candidate and it remains as loyal as ever to him. (He remains a fundraising juggernaut for the RNC. In turn, the RNC pays his legal bills and hocks his products, an unseemly [relationship](https://www.politico.com/news/2022/07/11/rnc-trump-2024-neutrality-00045008) that has some party insiders less than comfortable.) In other words, if Trump decides to get in, he will. The one [argument](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/14/trump-2024-announcement-fall/) that seems to be getting through to Trump, though, is one aimed squarely as his ego. If Republicans underperform in November, does Trump want to carry that responsibility? It’s not that he much cares how his party fares in broad terms. He is a desperate man who relishes being a kingmaker and personal winner. Anything that diminishes that—including some dodgy primary endorsements this cycle—threatens his self-image. And, in that, there may be enough uncertainty to keep him undeclared, at least until the votes are counted this year. _Make sense of what matters in Washington._ [_Sign up for the D.C. Brief newsletter_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/signup?nln=dc-brief&source=dc%5Fonsite)_._ ## Transcript I happened been on their cover like 14 or 15 times. I think we have the all time record in the history of Time magazine. Donald Trump has always had a fascination with time. He first landed on the cover on January 16th, 1989, 28 years before his inauguration, since before his election. Trump has regularly campaigned to be named Time's Person of the Year using rallies and his Twitter feed to comment on Time's choices. They should have picked me for the Person of the Year, but they didn't know. They said. And perhaps most notably, fake time travelers were designed to hang in his golf course clubhouses. Time has a long history of featuring presidents on the cover, and Trump has been no exception. Eight of the top ten people to appear most often on Time's cover are U.S. presidents. Trump finished his term with 35 covers, the fourth most of any president behind Richard Nixon's 55 covers. Ronald Reagan with 46 and Bill Clinton with 40. Rounding out the top ten are George W Bush with 32. Barack Obama 31. Jimmy Carter 27. Jesus 22. And Hillary Clinton and George H.W. Bush tied at 21. We first introduced candidate Trump to Time's readers in August of 2015, when photographer Martin Schaller and Time editor at large Paul Moakley brought a live bald eagle to the Trump Tower in New York City for a portrait. This symbol of democracy was particularly animated during the photo and video session, even angrily nipping at the president's hand during the 2016 campaign. We produced seven covers featuring Trump and created an original visual language for this president with the artwork of artist Adele Rodriguez. Rodriguez, who worked as Time's international art director in the 1990s as a strong, simple, graphic style that immediately grabbed worldwide recognition with the meltdown cover, a reflection of his slumping campaign following the Republican National Convention. Two months later, in response to the release of the infamous Access Hollywood tape, Rodriguez followed with an updated image with the headline Total Meltdown. Of course, TIME reports many different topics, and the visual approaches on the cover reinforces that variety. We have presented President Trump as a frenetic Twitter user, crumbling at the Washington Monument, a punching bag, a graphic wrecking ball, an angry character with his hair on fire, a cross between himself and Vladimir Putin, a king looking into a cover, a slingshot holding fighter, dueling with Nancy Pelosi, a happy president, whistling under an umbrella in the rain, and a man who has painted himself into a corner. We've also photographed Trump for multiple covers, including a White House tour for our May 22nd, 2017 cover and an Oval Office conversation in the summer of 2019 on Trump's plan to keep the White House. My favorite time cover of Trump is nothing to See Here from February 27, 2017. I believe the strongest time covers leave space for a variety of perspectives for this cover. If you're an opponent of President Trump, you look at the cover and you see all the chaos that this man has created. And if you're a supporter of the president, you look at it and say, even among all the chaos in Washington, look how resolute he is sitting behind that desk. That is a great place for a time cover to be. That image was created by longtime Time collaborator Tim O'Brien, who has painted more covers in the past 30 years than any other artist. It was the first of what would become a series of four paintings from O'Brien depicting Trump in a growing storm within the Oval Office. Our Trump covers have certainly not been without debate. An image we created of Trump staring down at a young immigrant girl for our Welcome to America cover sparked controversy. During the campaign, Trump frequently used the cover, proclaiming how Trump won as a selling point on the campaign trail. On numerous occasions, the president also tweeted out a fake time cover animation of how Trumpism outlasts Trump. A cover from October 22nd, 2018. But for most of the past year, the president's image on the cover took a backseat to front line workers. Racial injustice, protests and the rising COVID numbers. And even though the image of Trump wasn't physically shown on two recent covers, his influence was still present. While Trump's presidency has come to a close, it's certainly possible that we haven't seen the last of him. 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