It appears that Donald Trump has finally accepted the fact that he lost the 2020 presidential election, instructing the head of the General Services Administration on Monday to begin cooperating with the transition team of President-Elect Joe Biden.
So what comes next for Trump? Does he simply move to Mar-a-Lago and play golf for the rest of his life? Or will he actually run again in 2024, which he’s suggested?
According to Gabriel Sherman of Vanity Fair, the betting is that Trump probably won’t run again four years from now:
“The Washington Post recently reported that Trump could announce a 2024 run before the end of the year, in part to suck up oxygen from other Republican presidential hopefuls. A more likely scenario is that Trump would launch a right-wing media venture to compete with Fox News.”
A right-wing media operation headed by Trump could easily attract tens of millions of viewers, even if there’s a modest subscription fee of $9.95 a month or so. And that would be a major threat to Fox’s bottom line.
What’s a media mogul like Fox chairman Rupert Murdoch to do? Easy. He merely makes Trump and offer he can’t refuse:
“According to two sources, Trump’s attacks on Fox News are causing alarm in the Murdoch family. Fox chairman Rupert Murdoch is considering a plan to offer Trump a $100 million package that would include HarperCollins publishing Trump’s post-presidential memoir and Fox News giving Trump a contributor deal or his own show, the sources say. On November 10, the Murdoch-owned New York Post reported Trump could land a $100 million book advance, but made no mention of the Murdochs. ‘Rupert is going to make a humongous offer,” one of the sources said. “The thinking is, Let’s buy Trump off so he shuts the fuck up.’ Fox Corp. did not provide a comment. However, a source close to the publishing company denied it would make an offer for Trump’s memoir.”
Let’s speculate that Murdoch lays $100 million on the table and tells Trump it’s all his if he agrees to join the Fox family. Does anyone think a money-hungry narcissist like the Donald will pass on that? It would give him a forum to air his grievances and a chance to make a gigantic payday.
Don’t be surprised if you see Trump and members of his family hosting shows on Fox very soon. After all, this is probably Donald’s last chance to make a buck before the indictments hit and the trials begin.