President Trump, Please Don't Make the Midterms About You

President Trump, if you care about the success of the Republican Party, please don’t announce your own 2024 plans for four more months — until at least November 9, the day after the midterms.

Two Thursday headlines should concern every Republican running for office.

The first, reported by Axios, announced, “Scoop: Trump's return to Washington.”

It reported that the 45th president will return to Washington, D.C., for the first time since he left office in January 2021. He’s scheduled to deliver the keynote address at the America First Policy Institute on July 24, the second day of its policy summit.

The second story was a real teaser. A Newsmax headline said, “Trump on 2024 Run: 'I've Already Made That Decision’.”

He reportedly told New York magazine that, "Well, in my own mind, I've already made that decision, so nothing factors in anymore. In my own mind, I've already made that decision.”

He added, "I would say my big decision will be whether I go before or after [the midterms] … do I go before or after? That will be my big decision."

After — announce your decision after the midterms.

Let’s allow every midterm candidate to make his campaign about the issues that matter — most of which were created by the current administration:

• Skyrocketing inflation, for consumers and especially at the wholesale level
• Invasion of illegal immigrants at the southern border
• Endless vaccine and mask mandates
• Escalating crime rates at the country’s major cities
• Chaos in the Middle East
• The military’s top brass has infected the services with “woke” ideology
• Biden’s missteps sparking the war in Ukraine
• His weakness placing Taiwan in China’s crosshairs
• A supply chain crisis making essentials like infant formula hard to find
• Biden’s Afghanistan withdrawal leaving hundreds of Americans and thousands of U.S. green card holders behind
• The withdrawal rearmed the Taliban, ISIS-K, and al-Qaida with advanced U.S. military hardware

And so on and so forth.

But President Trump, if you announce your decision prior to the midterms, all of those issues will be obscured. The only issue will be Donald Trump.

Your administration distinguished itself from all others by phenomenal success, including:

• Peace in the Middle East, culminating in the Abraham Accords
• Prodding America’s NATO partners to pay their fair share
• Making America energy independent
• Protecting the southern border
• Bringing manufacturing jobs back to the United States
• Slashing crippling federal regulations
• Cutting personal and corporate federal taxes
• Keeping our adversaries at bay, especially Russia, China, Iran and North Korea
• Crippling the Taliban, ISIS and al-Qaida

And so on and so forth.

Then there’s a favorite of many conservatives: remaking the federal court system, especially the Supreme Court, which in its 2021-22 term advanced religious freedom, protected the Second Amendment, halted government overreach and reversed Roe v. Wade.

But if you announce before November 8, the only issue will be “orange man bad.”

And while we’re at it, let’s not talk about the 2020 election. Even Democrats and mainstream media figures would have to admit, in a rare moment of honesty, that there was a lot wrong with it.

But it’s time to put it to bed and move on.

Also on Thursday, Roll Call made a dismal prediction for the Republican Party. They admitted that the GOP would take control of the House — but just barely.

“ANALYSIS: If the election were held today, it looks as if Republicans would gain seven House seats — enough to win control, but not exactly a wave,” Roll Call tweeted.

Although most pundits expect 2022 to be a red tsunami for the GOP, Roll Call’s underwhelming analysis will have a greater possibility of coming to fruition if personalities enter into the equation. And there are few, if any, personalities bigger than that of President Donald J. Trump.

Some political observers predicted that the former president would make an Independence Day campaign announcement, but Trump told New York magazine that a July 4 disclosure would have been amateurish.

"I don’t think I have to compete with that," he said. "First of all, a lot of people aren’t around on the Fourth of July. It's not a great time to do an announcement … I never said I was going to. That was just fake news. Somebody said that I was going to. I don't think it was any of our people.”

The former president offered one prediction, however: "If I decide to run, I’ll win."

Few would argue with that. But for the sake of the party and the nation — to help other Republicans make it across the finish line — wait until after the midterms to announce.