'What happens when he's gone?' Trump’s health issues have associates jockeying for leadership

28 August

Donald Trump

Political consultant Rick Wilson told co-hosts and guests of the “Jim Acosta Show” that members of Trump’s cabinet are already measuring the drapes in the event of a serious health complication from the U.S. president.

Show host and former CNN anchor Jim Acosta spoke with Wilson and podcaster and political commentator Molly Jong-Fast about a recent cabinet meeting where members offered fawning —sometimes galling — praise for President Donald Trump in what the New York Times called “a glimpse of how he runs his presidency.”

Wilson claimed someone “close to the White House” told him the purpose of the flattering display was to “cheer Trump up because he's really upset about a lot of these stories about his health, and they're trying to all play the game.” Wilson was referring to reports of mysterious bruising and ankle swelling possibly connected to age-related cardiac illness.

But it’s a game of “I want to be the next one,” Wilson added.

“They’ll never say it publicly, but a lot of them are starting to shift into the ‘what-happens-when-he's-gone’ mode,” said Wilson. “That picture of [Vice President JD] Vance, [United States Secretary of Defense Pete] Hegseth and [advisor Stephen] Miller striding through Union Station—that would have been Trump, but I just don't think he could do it.”

“I've talked to a bunch of doctors. One guy said to me ‘if I were his cardiac specialist’ — and this guy is a cardiac specialist — ‘I would be looking for an LVAD (heart pump) or a transplant’.”

“Yeah, but are you really going to put a 79-year-old under general anesthesia for a heart transplant?” asked Jong-Fast.

“If Trump drops dead tomorrow and Vance becomes president ... The family will immediately try to shank him because they want to keep the Trump grift going,” said Wilson, referring to Trump’s cryptocurrency schemes and U.S. companies giving Trump advisory roles as part of corporate/federal government partnerships. “They want the grift to run forever.

“Marco Rubio seems to be trying to do everything possible to say, ‘I'm with you guys. I'm one of you.’ They're just never going to accept him,” said Acosta.

“No, they’re never going to go back to Marco,” said Wilson. “… The minute that anyone is a threat to the continued Trump grift parade, they will go after them. They would rather have Eric or Don Jr. run for president than any of these other guys. And I don't think it's out of the question that Don Jr., who is very good with the MAGA base in a crowded field, could win the nomination. Especially if Trump is on his way out the door.”

Hear the full podcast at this link.

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