Trump is 'hungry' to go head-to-head against Biden for president and can only be stopped by a 'prison sentence': former advisor

• Donald Trump is "hungry" to announce a 2024 presidential campaign, a former advisor said on CNN.
• Political commentator David Gergen said his interest in running jumps when he sees Biden in trouble.

Donald Trump is gunning hard for the presidency, a former advisor said Friday on CNN.

Advisors close to Trump for months have said the former president is considering a 2024 run. He himself has hinted at a 2024 presidential campaign since leaving office in January. Just weeks after now President Joe Biden won the election in November, reports said Trump was considering hosting a 2024 campaign event during Biden's inauguration into office.

"The signs are that he is increasingly interested," said David Gergen, a political commentator and former White House communications director who served under various administrations. "His interest intensifies when he sees Biden in trouble."

When Biden, for example, received backlash for his decision to withdraw all US troops from Afghanistan, prompting a swift Taliban takeover, Trump "was really chomping at the bit," Gergen said. "According to various reports, he had to be talked out of it."

Three sources with direct knowledge of his plans told the Washington Post that the former president came close to announcing a 2024 run in August at the height of the chaos in Afghanistan. Advisors stepped in and convinced him not to due to a fear that his announcement would derail the Republicans' attempt to take back Congress in the upcoming 2022 midterm elections.

"And now with Biden's approval rating sinking down into the low 40s and the economy still not straightening out and the pandemic still not over, that just makes Trump very very hungry," Gergen continued. "I think it's going to take something hugely unexpected or a dramatic change in his health or a prison sentence to stop him."

Last month, Trump said he would not run for office if he, for example, received a "bad call from a doctor."

Republican voters show a strong support for Trump as a potential presidential candidate on the ballot for 2024. A recent Quinnipiac University poll found that nearly 80% of Republicans surveyed want to see him run in the 2024 presidential race.

Biden has been steadily losing support since entering office, and his approval rating now hovers at around 43%. His approval rating has been falling because of several factors like the withdrawal from Afghanistan, a stalled infrastructure bill, and other policy issues.