Donald Trump is considering holding an event during president-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration to announce his 2024 run.
It’s yet the latest example of the delusional mind of Trump, who would rather spit on democracy than acknowledge his own defeat for the good of the nation.
Three sources close to Trump told The Daily Beast he is plotting various ways to boycott Biden’s administration including ways to steal his thunder when he is sworn in as the 46th president of the United States in January.
Two of the sources said Trump is considering timing a kick-off event for his 2024 White House campaign to clash with inauguration week or with the ceremony itself.
This would be a marked departure from protocol with the outgoing president traditionally attending the incoming president’s inauguration as part of a peaceful transition of power – a grace then-President Barack Obama and Vice President Biden both afforded Trump back in 2017.
It comes as Trump took a break from his election legal battle over Thanksgiving weekend to play a round of golf at his club in Sterling, Virginia, Saturday for the second day in a row.
Trump, who lost decisively in both the electoral and popular vote, continues to refuse to publicly concede the election to Biden but finally showed signs of caving this week, when he admitted he would leave the White House in January if the electoral college approves his rival’s votes.
In another sign he may be coming to terms with his election defeat, the sources told the Daily Beast Trump is already planning for his comeback run for the 2024 White House race.
They said the president is in close talks with advisers on specifics including the timing of its launch in efforts to continue to keep the spotlight firmly on him and away from his Democrat successor.
Trump allegedly boasted to his aides that he is confident he will continue to stay in the public eye and the media will continue to provide him coverage because he said Biden is ‘boring’ and doesn’t bring in the ratings he does, two of the sources said.
His plot to draw the attention away from inauguration day on January 20 would be a dramatic disregard for the process of a peaceful transition of power from one president to the next.
On 20 January 2017, when Trump was sworn in to the Oval Office, Obama and Biden were in attendance with their wives and the administration tried to create a smooth transition to Trump in the lead-up.
Former presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush also attended with their spouses – including Hillary Clinton, who had lost to Trump in the 2016 election.
After the ceremony, Trump and First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and Second Lady Karen Pence accompanied Obama and outgoing First Lady Michelle Obama to a departure ceremony.
Obama and Trump were even seen sharing a joke on the East steps of the US capitol and Biden and Trump were pictured shaking hands.
Obama gave his successor a handwritten letter – a tradition carried out by a handful of other presidents – congratulating Trump and offering his advice and support for his coming term.
‘Congratulations on a remarkable run. Millions have placed their hopes in you, and all of us, regardless of party, should hope for expanded prosperity and security during your tenure,’ he wrote.
Obama wished Trump ‘the very best as you embark on this great adventure’ and said he and Michelle ‘stand ready to help in any ways which we can’.
At the time, Trump called the note ‘beautiful’ .
The likelihood of this tradition continuing in January appears small as Trump continues to make unfounded claims of widespread election fraud and refuses to accept Biden as the President-elect.
Speaking to reporters on Thanksgiving Day, Trump refused to say if he would attend Biden’s inauguration at all.
However he said he would leave the White House if the electoral college certifies Biden’s victory when it meets on December 14.
‘Certainly I will. But you know that,’ he said when asked whether he would vacate the building, allowing a peaceful transition of power in January.
He also admitted it’s a ‘very hard thing to concede’ the election.
However, the following day he appeared to walk back on any attempt at a smooth transition saying Biden can only enter the White House if he can prove his votes are not ‘fraudulent’.
Trump’s campaign has shown no evidence of massive voter fraud and his team’s legal efforts to throw out votes have so far failed.
A hand recount of ballots in Georgia confirmed Biden’s win there and a hearing-style event in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday, revealed no evidence of voter fraud in that state.
While he continues to refuse to back down publicly, behind the scenes he is said to be preparing to run in 2024 in an indication he has somewhat accepted defeat.
Trump is already looking to secure the backing of prominent donors and allies to back his race with some having already pledged their support, reported the Daily Beast.
National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien has thrown his support behind a 2024 Trump campaign, according to sources.
Two sources told Bloomberg Trump announced to O’Brien, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and Vice President Mike Pence in the Oval Office 10 days after the election his intentions to run in 2024 if his legal battles fail to overturn the election results.
‘If you do that — and I think I speak for everybody in the room — we’re with you 100 percent,’ O’Brien told Trump.
However, the sources said Pompeo and Pence did not pledge the same support, and ‘smiled but said nothing’.