Christie weighs a 2028 run and declares the Trump era over
Seven Lights
Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie is considering a run for the presidency in 2028 and told Republicans to take their party in “a completely different direction,” declaring in an interview published this week that “the Trump era is over.”
Mr. Christie made the remarks in an interview with Politico on Wednesday, The Hill reported. He said he sees himself as better positioned to run than other prominent Republicans.
The comments landed amid a reckoning inside the party over sizable midterm losses that handed Democrats control of Congress. President Trump is vowing to fight back against the new Congress, CBS News reported, speaking with “60 Minutes” about the lawmakers’ return to what CBS called a stunning new political reality.
On PBS, David Brooks of The Atlantic and Jonathan Capehart of MS NOW discussed Mr. Trump’s White House shakeup, “deep divisions in the Republican Party” and Democratic preparations to take control of Congress. Semafor reported that many Republicans believe the party’s next standard-bearer cannot come from Mr. Trump’s White House.
Speaking on the same program, one commentator said many Republicans had been “unleashed” by the result, though most stayed quiet. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has been the most public, furious over what has happened to the party; he called the election “a near-extinction event” for Republicans. The commentator said the party showed little appetite for “more of the same, which is what Stephen Miller is.”
Mr. Christie served two terms as governor of New Jersey, from 2010 to 2018, and sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 and 2024. He broke with Mr. Trump during both campaigns and built a career as one of the president’s most prominent Republican critics before the 2024 cycle, when he endorsed Mr. Trump early and led his transition planning.
No decision on a 2028 entry was announced. Mr. Trump is constitutionally barred from a third term, opening the Republican nomination contest without an incumbent at the top of the ticket.