As Biden eyes 2024, one person weighs heavily: Trump

But as the president weighs his options, according to those close to him, one person looms largest over his decision: the man he’s often tried to ignore, the one whose legacy he’s worked to erase, the one he’s simply called “the former guy.”

Biden was motivated to run for office in large part because he saw himself as best positioned to defeat Donald Trump. He still considers knocking Trump out of the White House one of his major contributions to America’s welfare. And with Trump looming as the potential Republican nominee — he’s eyeing a September announcement — Biden maintains that he is still best positioned to beat him.

Biden may seek reelection in any case, people in his inner circle say, but if Trump runs, Biden is far more likely to do so. And if Trump holds off, it will be far easier for other Democrats to approach Biden about letting someone else take on a younger Republican nominee.

“I’m not predicting,” Biden recently told an Israeli TV interviewer, when asked about a Trump-Biden rematch. “But I would not be disappointed.”

When it comes to opposing Trump, “he does feel like he’s the best option,” said Ted Kaufman, a longtime Biden adviser and confidant. “But the primary thing is, how will he feel if he doesn’t do it and if Trump gets elected president? … ‘This would be very, very bad for the country, and did I do all I could to stop this from happening?’ ”

The dynamic creates an odd codependency between the two septuagenarians. For Trump, a rematch would give him an opportunity to underline his false claims that he was the real winner in 2020. For Biden, it would be a chance to put an exclamation point on his unseating of Trump and show that his win was no fluke.

But there is an underlying anxiety among some Democrats about Biden’s chances against Trump (whom he leads slightly in the polls) or another Republican. Biden is enduring an unusually rocky stretch of his presidency. His approval ratings are at an all-time low, and 64 percent of Democrats in a recent New York Times-Siena College poll said they wanted a different nominee in 2024.

The president’s supporters argue that he is the only person ever to defeat Trump and that he remains uniquely positioned to assemble a winning coalition of centrists and liberals, with strong support from the Black community.

“In terms of him matching up against Trump again, I say, bring it on,” said Minyon Moore, a longtime Democratic consultant with senior roles at the Democratic National Committee.

Everyone around Biden is operating as if he is…