President Donald Trump was confronted with an uncomfortable truth during his appearance at the Republican midterm convention, says his longtime biographer.
Author Michael Wolff said Trump, 80, was hit with the reality that his time in power is nearing its end when his MAGA heirs lined up at his MAGA Fyre Fest in Dallas, Texas, this week.
The RNC’s midterm convention featured several potential successors to Trump, including Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“It suddenly gave a platform to the people who are going to be running to replace him,” Wolff told Inside Trump’s Head co-host, Joanna Coles. “And I wonder if he actually realized that. As we go past the midterms into the final two years of this presidency, the one thing that is going to most bedevil him is the idea that someone in his party would actually want to and believe they can replace him.”
Vance, 42, was greeted with chants of “JD 48” when he addressed the crowd, but he chose to play coy.
“We gotta take care of business this November, and then we’ll worry about what comes next,” he told the audience. Trump later hailed him as a “very talented guy” who “did a very good job.”
Wolff said it became clear that “the JD machine is now gearing up” and “getting into position now” as 2028 inches closer.
“Let me repeat my position because I really think it’s the only context in which you can see this,” he said. “The idea that a Republican might become president and overshadow Donald Trump would be the tragedy of his life. Therefore, it’s not going to happen.”
Wolff speculated that the Trump presidency would still live on past 2028—even if in exile.
“The Donald Trump presidency is going to continue, if not in the White House—because I don’t think he’s figured out how to pull that one off—but therefore it will continue in Mar-a-Lago,” Wolff mused. “He will be the president in exile with billions of dollars at his disposal to finance this administration in exile.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Wolff also slammed Trump’s appearance at the Republican midterm convention as “politically, the most counterproductive thing that he could possibly do.”
“In the middle of a midterm in which his lack of popularity is the key issue, ‘Let’s stage an event that reminds people not only of him, but of how unpopular he is,’” he said. “And it was kind of extraordinary in innumerable ways, not least of all the denial.”
Polls have repeatedly shown resounding disapproval of Trump’s performance in his second term. A Financial Times/Focaldata poll conducted in late August found that a measly 33 percent of registered voters are satisfied with Trump’s job as president.
“All of these problems which every Republican who is running for office this year has to deal with—the war, affordability foremost among them—he is denying,” Wolff said. “Those are not problems. As a matter of fact, those are benefits: We should be running on those things.”
He continued, “The Republican Party got nothing out of this. Donald Trump, on the other hand, I think he got what he always wants out of this: ‘I am the center of attention. There is no Republican Party without me. I am the person who channels the hopes and dreams and passions of this central core of the Republican Party.’”
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