Trump predicts Biden will remain his opponent because of his ‘ego’

President Joe Biden will likely remain the presumptive 2024 Democratic nominee because he has an “ego,” former President Donald Trump said.

“It looks to me like he may very well stay in,” Trump told Fox News on Monday. “He’s got an ego and he doesn’t want to quit.”

“I think Jill would like to see him stay,” he said of first lady Jill Biden. “I noticed she really seems to be having a good time and I’m hearing that Hunter is calling the shots. So this isn’t necessarily a very positive thing for our country. But I think he, you know, might very well stay in.”

First son Hunter Biden was at the White House last week and was present as his father, the president, prepared to deliver an address on the Supreme Court‘s immunity decision.

Democrats have publicly pressured Joe Biden to reconsider his reelection campaign after last month’s opening debate against Trump, during which he lost his train of thought and appeared with his mouth agape.

Trump stated that “nobody wants to give [the presidency] up that way” and predicted that if Joe Biden does step down, he is “going to feel badly about himself for a long time.”

Trump described he and his campaign as being “prepared” for Joe Biden, though he also took the opportunity Monday to criticize Vice President Kamala Harris, who could replace the president if he does decide to stand aside. Trump contended that “she hasn’t done a good job on a lot of things.”

“We’re heading into World War III, in my opinion, with this man semi-running things because he’s not running things,” he said. “The people that surround the Oval Office, the people that surround the Resolute Desk, that beautiful Resolute Desk, they’re really running things in Washington.”

Regarding the debate, Trump recalled Joe Biden looking “pale” and having a “weak” voice, remembering it as a “strange” event “because, within a couple of minutes, the answers given by him were, they didn’t make a lot of sense.”

“They weren’t even answers,” he said. “They were just words put together, they had no meaning or sense.”

The Biden campaign countered that Trump’s interview was “low energy,” despite the former president not campaigning for the past 12 days.

“He is still a habitual liar, still a 34-time convicted criminal, still running on his Project 2025 agenda to destroy America, make himself a dictator on day one, rip away our rights, and raise costs on the middle class to give tax cuts to the wealthy and price-gouging corporations — and most importantly, still going to lose this November to Joe Biden,” Biden campaign spokesman James Singer wrote in a statement.

Trump has until next Monday, the first day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, to announce his vice presidential nominee. One week before that deadline, he conceded he has not made his “final decision.”

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“We wanted to see what they’re doing, to be honest, because, you know, it might make a difference,” Trump said of the Biden campaign. “I think probably within the next week, week and a half. Probably sometime, I’d love to do it during the convention.”

“I think everybody’s going to be very, very happy,” he added. “It’s got to be a great vice president, meaning a person that can do a fantastic job as president, because you always have to think of that first, and then second, somebody that helps you get elected, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”