
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Trump spent most of his career being a celebrity businessman. ; In many ways, his businesses were only the means to achieve celebrity status. ; He was – prior to running for President – the most famous name in business. ; He parlayed that into entertainment with forays into the glamour businesses – casinos and beauty pageants, fashions, and beverages. ; Finally, he created “The Apprentice”, staring … himself.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">He created the Trump brand – combining “The life of the Rich and Famous” with a Hugh Hefner salaciousness. ; He reinforced that image when he purchased the old Marjorie Merriweather Post mansion in Florida – Mar-a-Lago.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">You would have had to look closely at his history to have seen his presidential ambitions – but they were there for years. ; He floated the idea of running for the White House for at least a decade before he came down the escalator. ; In the few interviewers who broached the subject back then, Trump gave surprisingly similar knee-jerk answers as he did in 2016 and today. ; But the general impression was that those earlier reports were more to fuel publicity than a serious plan to seek the highest office in the land.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">That changed in 2016, when Trump actually entered the presidential race. ; Even then, it was viewed by many as a publicity stunt. ; It seemed he had little chance of being more than a controversial platform debater. ; Even Trump insiders were saying that he never really considered winning the presidency.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Early in the campaign, the <em>Huffington Post</em> refused to cover Trump from a political perspective. ; The left-wing online news platform assigned him to their entertainment reporters. ; It was only after Trump started winning GOP primary elections that the <em>Post </em>performed a journalistic mea culpa by reassigning Trump to the political beat.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">When Trump secured the Republican nomination, many pundits and observers said he would transition to a more traditional presidential style – shedding his belligerent and pugnacious personality. ; However, ; what the American public saw throughout the campaign was the same old celebrity Trump.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">For a lot of unique technical reasons – divided opposition and the nature of the Electoral College – Trump became the 45<sup>th</sup> President of the United States. ; He was not the popular choice. ; It was arguably the most surprising upset in American presidential history. ; Again, pundits and observers suggest that Trump would – as President &#8212; transition into a more familiar presidential demeanor. ; Not so. ;</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">For the four years of his presidency – and the two years since – Trump has maintained his egocentric celebrity personality even as he remained a person with political power and influence. ; That political power and influence has been ebbing from the time he got elected. ; Under his leadership, the GOP suffered a serious defeat in 2018 – losing the House by a wide margin. ; In 2020, he not only lost his bid for re-election (regardless of what people think of the election), the GOP lost the Senate and barely flipped the House. ; Most damaging to Trump’s political power was the almost universal defeat of his key endorsed candidates.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Trump’s only claim to political power was perception based on polls that appeared to show him having a tight grip on the Republican Party – a narrative that both he and the Democrats advanced for their own reasons and which I consistently rejected.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Trump’s mounting legal problems and his irrational behavior &#8212; such as hosting racist and anti-Semitic personalities, his suggestion that the Constitution should be set aside and then there was those trading cards – have taken an enormous toll on his political capital. ; His chances of winning the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 – and winning the election – are somewhere between remote to nil.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">There will be a small fraction of voters who will cling to their loyalty to Trump as their personal political savior – but not enough to make him a dominant political force in the future.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">With that being said, it seems that Trump’s claim to fame rests largely on his celebrity status. ; Judging from his behavior, I think he knows that. ; Even his announced candidacy seems like a theatrical production more than a serious run for re-election.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Those who seek or hope to maintain celebrity status often tend to engage in outrageous attention-getting behavior. ; They say and do things to keep the public spotlight on themselves – whether the public reaction is positive or negative.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">It would be unfair to say that Trump has not accomplished a number of very good things for the American people. ; To say that he has been treated unfairly and maliciously by the Democrats and the media – regardless of his shortcomings &#8212; is an understatement. ; However, whether you judge his business career, his entertainment activities or his political career, it is his desire for celebrity that has been the common thread.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">It is time to stop thinking of Trump in political terms. ; Some talk about Trump being in the rearview mirror of politics. ; For the most part, he is not in the political mirror at all. ; Trump has more than enough issues and talent to keep himself in the public eye. ; But only as a celebrity – and that is how we should think of him going forward.</p>



<p class="wp-block-paragraph">So, there ‘tis.</p>

Trump Returns to Celebrity Status
