The perfect reason to run...

Former press secretary: Trump ‘will be about revenge’ if he wins in 2024

"He will probably have some pretty draconian policies that go on,” Stephanie Grisham said.

By QUINT FORGEY

Former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham warned Monday that Donald Trump would be consumed by "revenge" and implement “pretty draconian policies” across the federal government if he runs for president and wins in 2024.

Grisham, the author of a forthcoming White House memoir that paints a particularly damaging portrait of Trump’s time in office, told ABC’s “Good Morning America” in an interview that she wants to, “in whatever way I can, educate the public about the behaviors within the [Trump] White House, because it does look like he’s going to try to run in 2024.”

“I want to just warn people that once he takes office, if he were to win, he doesn’t have to worry about reelection anymore,” she added. “He will be about revenge. He will probably have some pretty draconian policies that go on.”

Grisham — who also served as White House communications director and former first lady Melania Trump’s chief of staff and press secretary — went on to reveal that “there were conversations a lot of times” among administration officials in which “people would say, ‘That’ll be the second term. That’ll be the second term.’ Meaning, we won’t have to worry about a reelection.”

Grisham replaced former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders in 2019 but never held a news conference in her subsequent nine months in the role — making her the first top spokesperson to the president in American history to totally abstain from public briefings. On Sunday, Grisham said it was Trump who ordered her not to face the press.

“When we discussed me taking the job, [Trump] had already suspended the briefings for about six months under Sarah, and he said he didn’t think we needed any more briefings,” Grisham said. “He spoke to the press two or three times a day directly, so then my job was going to be to work more behind the scenes with print, with regional and local [media].”

Trump’s post-presidential office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Grisham’s remarks Monday. But the former president — who remains focused on perpetuating the falsehood that President Joe Biden’s election in 2020 was fraudulent — has hinted repeatedly in recent months that he will seek the White House again in 2024, although he has not formally announced his candidacy.

Trump ramped up speculation about a reelection bid Sunday, telling Yahoo Finance in an interview that he would beat Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — a potential 2024 Republican primary rival — “like I would beat everyone else” if he decides to campaign for a second term.