My greatest fear has been realized. Well, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but not by much.

Earlier today, former President Donald Trump announced he was a candidate for the presidency in the upcoming 2024 general election. The man just won’t go away.

Now, let’s be clear. I don’t think Trump did a half bad job when he was president. I supported many of his policies, though certainly not all. Even still, the man is so divisive, so egomaniacal, so petty, so thin-skinned, so mean-spirited that I cannot imagine him as president again. He is a lightning rod for Democrats, making them do all kinds of bizarre, corrupt, illegal and over-the-top things – things they would never do if any other Republican ran for office or won the presidency. The Democrats don’t just want to defeat Trump. They want to destroy him. And they are willing to do anything – legal or illegal, ethical or unethical – to do that. That is not good for the country.

Trump is not good for the country because he is far too invested in himself and in his own legacy. Sure, every president is invested in his own legacy. But Trump takes that to the far edge of the universe. He is so invested in his legacy and in himself that he couldn’t accept that he lost the election in 2020. After being battered so terribly by lies and scandals and politically motivated impeachments, I can certainly understand why Trump would be bitter. Which is why he ought to have been resolute in doing what was best for the country. But he didn’t. He refused to accept the result of the election, and that has had repercussions for the country since, including the January 6 catastrophe and the dismal showing of Republicans in the mid-terms, where Democrats used the moniker of “election-denier” to effectively discredit many a candidate.

So, what will happen now? I see three potential scenarios. First, Trump wins the Republican nomination, but the country is so tired of the divisive polarization he inspires that any Democrat, regardless of how well-suited he or she is for the office (and, in my mind, there aren’t many that are well-suited), will walk into the White House. Second, Trump wins the Republican nomination and, much to everyone’s surprise, the 2024 presidential election, and the country is once again thrown into the political circus that was his first administration. Trump’s exhausting personality and the ruckus inspired by the Democrat’s hatred of Trump will tear the country apart. At the end of Trump’s second term, our nation will be more divided and polarized than ever. Third, Trump loses the GOP nomination to a half-normal Republican pol and, because he is so egotistic and self-absorbed, won’t accept the defeat and will run third party. This will split the conservative/Republican vote and allow the Democrat nominee to, once again, walk into the White House, barely breaking a sweat. Can you imagine President Harris, or President Buttigieg? Oh, the horror!

Too many of our politicians are more invested in their own power and their own legacy than in what is best for the country. Trump, Biden, Pelosi, Schumer, McConnell, Harris, and Clinton (both) are all part of that class. The best thing for our country would be if they all decided that they deserve to retire from their lives of public service. Instead, they all are convinced that their country needs them, or at least that they haven’t squeezed this turnip for every possible profit. Now, Trump has declared his candidacy for president in 2024.

I pray for my country.

Be Christ for all. Bring Christ to all. See Christ in all.