Trump has spoken with associates about forming a new political party: report

President TrumpDonald Trump Giuliani used a provisional vote to vote in the 2020 election, the same method he despised in the fight to nullify the results. He reportedly raised the possibility of starting a new political party as he prepares to leave the White House amid internal struggles within the Republican Party.

The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Trump has discussed the issue with associates over the past week, suggesting he would call it the “Patriot Party.”

According to the newspaper, it is not clear how serious the outgoing president is when starting a new party. The media notes that Trump’s broad base of supporters was not heavily involved in the Republican party before Trump became the party’s 2016 presidential candidate.

It has been speculated about whether Trump will run for president again in 2024. If he does, he could effectively exclude other viable Republican candidates from the presidency. Traditionally, third parties have not gained enough momentum to challenge Democratic and Republican parties.

This effort would likely be strongly opposed by Republican leadership, as it would look like Trump was removing support for other Republican candidates.

Since he lost the presidential election, Trump’s future after the White House has been called into question. In November, Axios reported that Trump’s allies were looking to buy into conservative news channel Newsmax in order to compete with Fox News. However, Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy denied that such discussions took place.

Trump’s future efforts in DC are likely to face challenges. His trial in the Senate will take place after he leaves office and the outgoing majority of the Senate leader Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnell What would MLK say about Trump and the Republican Party? Biden’s minimum wage increase faces upward battle with GOP senators GOP fight to remove Trump from party MORE (R-Ky.) He has not yet decided whether or not to vote to condemn Trump. McConnell on Tuesday blamed Trump for provoking the violent crowd that broke into the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Democratic lawmakers have called for Trump to be banned from running for federal office in the future, and on Tuesday Rep. Nikema Williams (D-Ga.) Introduced legislation to ban Trump from entering the U.S. Capitol after his presidency ends Wednesday.