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- Donald Trump came closer than previously known to declaring a 2024 presidential run.
- His advisers talked him out of an announcement amid the Afghanistan withdrawal, per The Washington Post.
- Trump continues to flirt with another run, leaving the rest of the GOP field in limbo.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
As former President Donald Trump's flirtations with another run in 2024 continue, he reportedly came close to making an announcement during the US military's withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Back in August during the most tense stages of the exit, Trump wanted to make the announcement "right away," according to three people with direct knowledge who spoke to The Washington Post.
However, Trump was eventually talked out of it when advisers explained to him how such a move may hurt Republican efforts to retake the House and Senate in the 2022 midterms, as well as logistical challenges on the fundraising front, according to The Post.
"The biggest point we drove home was that he doesn't want to own the midterms if we don't win back the House or Senate," one of the anonymous advisers told The Post.
Whether in his own media appearances or via surrogates, Trump has engaged in the same pattern of hinting at a presidential campaign that became his trademark prior to 2016.
Some Trump loyalists have made declarations couched in vague terms - such as former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows saying in August that Trump is "moving forward" with 2024 "in a real way" - while others have poured cold water on the notion, citing his low popularity among the general public.
Michael Cohen, Trump's former attorney who eventually turned against him, told Insider's Sonam Sheth in September that his former boss is bluffing because "he cannot stomach the notion of being a two-time loser, but he will continue to grift until the very last second."
Trump's will-he-or-won't-he routine is also having a paralyzing effect on much of the prospective 2024 field, according to his former campaign manager and White House adviser Kellyanne Conway.
"He tacitly keeps the 2024 crowd on notice that nobody can move a major muscle until he decides what he's doing," she told The Post.