The moment we’ve all been dreading… Trump has announced his 2024 presidential campaign, to no one’s surprise. But what does this mean for the republican party? 

  In an NBC roundtable, Meet The Press, Susan Page explained this perfectly saying, “I think what were seeing with Republican voters in the Midterms and more and more republican officials is the desire for trumpism but less of a desire for Trump”. 

 “One senator in a meeting we had this week said, ‘How many in this room want to see President Trump announce he’s running for president today?’ Not one hand up,” Romney said, describing the scene at a closed-door Republican meeting the day Trump announced his reelection. 

  Only one Republican senator has announced publicly that he will support former-President Trump’s 2024 reelection bid and it wasn’t even Trump’s senate bestie, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham. 

  I think right now the vast majority of Senate Republicans are trying to stay neutral, waiting to see who else jumps into the primary because if they want to pull out a win in 2024, they’ll probably need a less polarizing front man, especially when you take into consideration the two disappointing midterms and the losing reelection bid of 2020. Like Mitt Romney said, “the retired war horse that has lost three in a row” probably isn’t their best option. The frontman they’re looking for, many republicans would argue, is Florida Governor Ron Desantis. 

  Coming off his commanding reelection, DeSantis could be the alternative to Trump that many are seeking. Though he has not proven himself nationally in a presidential arena, DeSantis has certainly proven himself to voters in Florida with an impressive reelection by a 59.4% lead. But is that enough? He would still have to defeat a former president known for his ruthlessness in taking down potential rivals and let’s be real, he is not known for having good people skills. 

  It’s important to note that Trump’s announcement of his reelection campaign prompted Attorney General Merrick Garland to announce the appointment of a special counsel to take over ongoing Justice Department investigations into Trump’s retention of classified documents after leaving the White House and his role in fomenting the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. 

  Those investigations will remind some Republicans of the baggage the former president carries. Others will see him as the victim he claims to be, and they could come out in force to back his third presidential bid, though right now, Donald Trump lags 20 points behind Ron DeSantis in polling of Republicans for their next White House candidate in a sign that Trump doesn’t have a grip on the party like he thinks he does. 

  The Republican party is certainly going to have a fascinating time trying to tame the beast that is Trump’s ego. Trump could potentially be the reason democrats come out on top in the next presidential election. “In 2024, it really is going to be a choice of Trump or not-Trump,” a source said. “If there are eight people splitting 75 percent [of the anti-Trump] vote, they don’t win.” 

  Plus we don’t even know if President Biden is going to be running for reelection. In a Washington Post article, staff reporter Aaron Blake ranked the top 10 Democratic presidential candidate options for 2024 and in that, the most interesting picks to me were Governor of Colorado Jared Polis, perhaps the most logical choice Vice President Kamala Harris, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, each with impressive resumes that could take advantage of a Biden-less primary. 

  All three of these possible candidates could pose a challenge to the seemingly very Trump-divided GOP in the 2024 presidential election. Right now, we just have to wait and see what Democrats will jump at the opportunity to oppose Trump in what is building up to be a tumultuous election.