"I would absolutely put him on the shortlist of people likely to run in 2024. He doesn't like losing," Mick Mulvaney has said.
ADVERTISEMENTDonald Trump's former acting chief of staff has said that he expects the president to run for election again in 2024 if he is not victorious this year.
"I would absolutely put him on the shortlist of people likely to run in 2024. He doesn't like losing," Mick Mulvaney said, speaking at a web session hosted by the Institute of International & European Affairs in Dublin.
"After this election is over, who is the leading Republican candidate for 2024? I think now folks are starting to wonder he (Trump) might be the guy."
The former presidential aide, who now serves as a special envoy for Northern Ireland, did not see Trump's age as a reason for the Republican not to run, pointing out in four years he would "technically" be younger than Democratic candidate Joe Biden is now.
On the next presidential election day, Trump would be 78 and Joe Biden is 77, turning 78 on November 20.
"The stories about his energy levels and the fact that he doesn't sleep and his vivaciousness are true. That's not the stuff of spin," Mulvaney added.
Legally, while the US constitution forbids presidents from serving more than two terms it doesn’t stipulate that they have to be consecutive.
Mulvaney is not the only one of Trump's former staff to suggest that he might run in 2024 if his bid fails this year; Steve Bannon made similar suggestions in October and former advisor Bryan Lanza also told the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 he is in a "good position" to go for reelection in four years’ time.
Lanza said he thinks Trump is in with a fighting chance should he run for a second term again.
"Biden will have the opportunity to guide this country out of COVID, and we’ll see what his successes and failures are. And there’s nobody in the Republican party that can challenge President Trump in the primaries,” he said.
Should Trump "lose a very tight election" he could "make a strong case to run again," according to Lanza. "And the Republicans would step aside to let it happen."
While the final outcome of the US election is still in the balance, the days after a winner is declared will prove pivotal in Trump's political career no matter the result.
This article has been updated to reflect that Mick Mulvaney was speaking at the Institute of International & European Affairs in Dublin.