"That will be it": Trump doesn't plan to run again if he loses in 2024

Donald Trump told "Full Measure" host Sharyl Attkisson that he will not run again in 2028

Published September 22, 2024 2:10PM (EDT)

Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the National Guard Association of the United States' 146th General Conference & Exhibition at Huntington Place Convention Center on August 26, 2024 in Detroit, Michigan. (Emily Elconin/Getty Images)
Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the National Guard Association of the United States' 146th General Conference & Exhibition at Huntington Place Convention Center on August 26, 2024 in Detroit, Michigan. (Emily Elconin/Getty Images)

We won't see Donald Trump on the ballot again if he loses to Kamala Harris this November. 

The former president told "Full Measure" host Sharyl Attkisson that he'd hang up his red hat if Harris beats him in the upcoming presidential election. 

"I don’t see that at all," Trump said when asked if he would run in 2028. "That would be it."

Trump is currently 78 years old and would be 82 by the time Election Day 2028 rolls around. The decision to declare his last go-round comes after a particularly tough campaign season for Trump. The Secret Service has warded off two assassination attempts on the TV personality-turned-head of state, with Trump's survival of the first attack coming down to a matter of centimeters.

Trump was grazed in the ear by a bullet fired from would-be assassin Thomas Crooks during a rally in Butler, Penn. in July. Another seeming assassination plot was foiled by Secret Service agents earlier this month, when they captured Ryan Wesley Routh after finding him lying in wait on Trump International Golf Course. 

When Attkisson asked him if he worried about being targeted, Trump called the plots an "honor."

"You know, the only ones that really are troubled are consequential presidents," he said. "So, in that way it's a very nice honor."

Trump added that he "feels safe" and trusts his Secret Service agents.

"I can't be scared because if you're scared, you can't do your job," he said. "Nasty things could have happened, would've happened. But we had a very good Secret Service agent that spotted a rifle coming out of a very, very dense group of trees and foliage and plants, saw the rifle and he started shooting." 


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