"[Trump] recently surprised some advisers by saying he might declare his candidacy on social media without warning even his own team..."

"... and aides are scrambling to build out basic campaign infrastructure in time for an announcement as early as this month. That timing would be extraordinary — presidential candidates typically announce their candidacies in the year before the election — and could have immediate implications for Republicans seeking to take control of Congress in November. Mr. Trump’s presence as an active candidate would make it easier for Democrats to turn midterm races into a referendum on the former president, who since losing in 2020 has relentlessly spread lies about the legitimacy of the election. Some Republicans fear that would distract from pocketbook issues that have given their party a strong advantage in congressional races.... One of the most compelling arguments against an early announcement had been federal campaign finance laws. If and when Mr. Trump announces, he would be ineligible to use any of the $100 million that he has parked in his political action committee to directly support his presidential run. His campaign would also be constrained by a strict $2,900-per-person donation cap for the primaries...."

From "Trump Eyes Early 2024 Announcement as Jan. 6 Scrutiny Intensifies/Donald Trump has accelerated his campaign planning, hoping a White House bid will blunt a series of damaging revelations. Some Republicans are worried" (NYT).

He "surprised some advisers by saying he might" surprise them. So much surprising. And it's all so predictable. Do you ever get tired of the tedium of surprise? 

Am I the first person to write "the tedium of surprise"? Google says yes, but...

... taking the quotes off, the second hit has trump in it: "The Tedium of Trump." And that was back in 2020, just before the election.

From that article:

Donald Trump has built his public persona around the central importance of grabbing attention—whether his actions provoke delight or fury. And yet he is, and has long been, boring. Four years into his presidency, Trump isn’t boring in the way a dull, empty afternoon is boring. Trump is boring in the way that the seventh season of a reality-television show is boring: A lot is happening, but there’s nothing to say about it.... 

Trump’s abuses of the presidency are often compared to those of Richard Nixon, but Nixon had a deep, if troubled, interior life; one biographer characterized Nixon as struggling with “tragic flaws,” a description hard to imagine any credible biographer using to describe Trump. 

In a democracy whose vitality depends, at least in part, on what people are paying attention to and what they think about it, the frenzied monotony of Trump raises the question: What happens when politics is crucially important, but there is little original to say?

Ah! If only he'd been reelected, we'd be almost done with him now. We'd be about to pay attention to a new slate of contenders. But as it is, he's looming as our only choice, and he may start his run even before the midterm. And those who did manage to oust him in 2020 have preoccupied themselves with him, frittering away their turn in power.