President Trump has reportedly floated the possibility of starting a new political party as he prepares to leave the White House amid internal struggles within the Republican Party.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that Trump has discussed the matter with associates in the last week, suggesting he would call it the “Patriot Party.”
According to the Journal, it’s unclear how serious the outgoing president is about starting a new party. The outlet noted that Trump’s wide base of supporters was not heavily involved in the Republican Party before Trump became the party’s 2016 presidential nominee.
Speculation has grown as to whether Trump will run for the presidency again in 2024. If he did, it could effectively exclude other viable Republican candidates from pursuing the presidency. Traditionally, third parties have failed to gain enough momentum to challenge the Democratic and Republican parties.
This endeavor would likely be strongly opposed by Republican leadership, as it would be seen as Trump siphoning off support for other Republican candidates.
Ever since he lost the presidential election, Trump’s future after the White House has been brought into question. In November, Axios reported that Trump’s allies were looking to buy into conservative news network Newsmax in order to compete with Fox News. However, Newsmax Chief Executive Officer Chris Ruddy denied that such discussions were occurring.
Trump’s future endeavors in D.C. are likely to face challenges. His Senate impeachment trial is set to take place after he leaves office, and outgoing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has not yet decided whether he will vote to convict Trump. McConnell on Tuesday blamed trump for provoking the violent crowd that broke into the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Democratic lawmakers have called for Trump to be barred from running for federal office in the future, and on Tuesday Rep. Nikema Williams (D-Ga.) introduced legislation to ban Trump from entering the U.S. Capitol after his presidency ends on Wednesday.