An extensive article by Olivia Nuzzi in New York chronicles Donald Trump’s activities since his announcement almost a month ago of another presidential run.

The headline:

The Final Campaign
Inside Donald Trump’s sad, lonely, thirsty, broken, basically pretend run for reelection. (Which isn’t to say he can’t win.)

Lots of details about Trump’s near seclusion, except to trot out before adoring guests at Mar a Lago. His obsession with “Sunset Boulevard,” a movie about a fading star  desperate to retain past glory, is a nice touch of relevant context that Molly Jong-Fast noted.

Nuzzi talked to Trump who, of course, told many lies.

There was a scrap of local interest, with a portion of the passage highlighted by me:

Trump’s campaign schedule, described to me as “busy,” involved 11 events over the course of the month. One event was the announcement itself. Five events took place at Mar-a-Lago. Four events were not events at all but taped videos that were aired at events where Trump was not physically present. The endorsements were just as impressive: Kari Lake, Matt Gaetz, Elise Stefanik, Paul Gosar, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Max Miller, the New York Young Republicans, the Texas agriculture commissioner. The most high-profile Trump-endorsed candidate to win in the midterms, J. D. Vance, was not on this list. Neither was Trump’s former press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, now governor-elect of Arkansas. I asked her why she hadn’t endorsed him. She didn’t respond.

Someday someone allowed to attend a Sanders news event will get her to answer a question about the man who lifted her to national prominence and fueled her record-breaking fund-raising. One Arkansas reporter tried after Trump urged trashing of the U.S. Constitution and she said, in a marked break from her campaign, that she only wanted to talk about Arkansas topics. (Is the U.S. Constitution not operable in Arkansas?)

And speaking of fundraising: Note that Sanders’ campaign manager Chris Caldwell has set himself up to be the Jon Gilmore of the Sanders administration. Gilmore was the Asa Hutchinson aide and campaign leader who set up a private consulting firm in partnership with some other Hutchinsonsites. Surprise. They’ve amassed a huge list of blue-ribbon clients during the eight years of the Hutchinson administration. It will be interesting to look at Caldwell’s client list in a few months. Those contacts will be useful when Caldwell again managers Sanders’ campaign for governor in 2026, presuming she hasn’t joined Donald Trump in Washington. Or gone there on her own. It might also be interesting to follow the Gilmore fortunes under the new governor.

Retired senior editor of the Arkansas Times.