President Trump is "seriously" considering a 2024 bid for president and has "100%" mentioned it in conversations with his top advisers in recent days, a Trump campaign senior adviser and a Trump ally told CBS News.
CBS News previously reported that while no decisions have been made, Trump advisers have been actively working to keep the president's options open as they begin to plan his political future. However, the president plans to exhaust his legal options before any decisions are made.
Republican Senator Kevin Cramer called Mr. Trump last week to convey his support for the president's efforts to contest the election results, as first reported by Politico. An official close to Cramer said that Mr. Trump told the North Dakota lawmaker, "If this doesn't work out, I'll just run again in four years."
Despite these private comments, Mr. Trump has publicly refused to concede the election. He has repeatedly cast doubts about the legitimacy of the contest, even as his administration officials have called this the most secure election in history. The president has even claimed that he won the election, though President-elect Joe Biden has been projected to win 306 electoral votes to Mr. Trump's 232. Most Republican lawmakers have also declined to acknowledge Mr. Biden's victory.
Mr. Trump's campaign has launched several lawsuits in critical states which supported Mr. Biden, although the majority of these lawsuits have so far been unsuccessful. The federal agency which oversees the presidential transition, the General Services Administration, has yet to formally kickstart the transition process. This has not stopped Mr. Biden from beginning the transition without federal support.
