Donald Trump's Chances of Winning the 2024 Election as He Launches Bid

Former President Donald Trump is officially running for another presidential term. And leading betting sites expect Trump to have the best odds to win the 2024 presidential election.

While it's illegal to bet on political elections in the U.S., European website EmpireStakes.com shows Trump with an "implied probability" of 25 percent at winning the next presidential election, compared to President Joe Biden's 18.2 percent. Bets on Trump have remained steady since last year at 3-to-1 odds. On the other hand, Biden's odds have risen from 5-to-1 to 6-to-1.

After much speculation as to whether he'd make a third bid for the White House, Trump made his announcement for the Republican nomination for 2024 on Tuesday.

On the eve of Election Day, Trump suggested that he would wait until November 15 to launch his 2024 campaign, saying that he wanted "nothing to detract from the importance of" the midterms.

Trump had teased a 2024 run since leaving office last year, dropping hints that he'd be likely to seek the GOP nomination and racking up a successful endorsement record this year.

"I ran twice. I won twice, and did much better the second time than I did the first, getting millions more votes in 2020 than I got in 2016," Trump said during a November 3 Iowa rally. "Now in order to make our country successful, and safe and glorious, I will very, very, very probably do it again."

Although there had not been a formal announcement until this week, Republican strategist Jay Townsend told Newsweek ahead of the official bid that, "The only thing that would shock anyone is Trump deciding not to run."

"His ego was badly bruised by his [2020] loss to [Joe] Biden," Townsend said. "In his mind, the only way to repair it is to win again so that he can extract revenge on those who wronged him."

Many had anticipated that Trump's announcement would come shortly after the November 8 midterms so he could beat the Department of Justice (DOJ) in the small window federal prosecutors would have to make an indictment against him.

While Attorney General Merrick Garland could still bring charges against the former president as part of the investigation into the confidential records that Trump allegedly brought to Mar-a-Lago after leaving the White House, it will now be difficult for the DOJ to execute such a move without it looking like a politically motivated attack to prevent Trump from running for president again.

Since leaving office nearly two years ago, Trump has maintained significant influence over the GOP and its base. Although candidates endorsed by the former president were able to win his proxy battles against establishment Republicans in the primaries, the results of the midterms suggested that Trump's support may work against GOP candidates on a general ballot. Last week, a number of Trump's picks failed to win their races, causing the GOP to shift away from Trump as many blamed him for the party's lackluster performances across the country.

Trump has also remained as the front-runner on the hypothetical list of 2024 GOP candidates. The only Republican who has seemed to be able to mount a real challenge against him is Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is now doing better than Trump in polls. DeSantis has not announced a 2024 bid.

In a November 10 update, EmpireStakes.com said DeSantis has vaulted to the top of the 2024 presidential odds since winning his re-election last week. Compared with Trump's implied probability of 25 percent, DeSantis is even more likely with 30.8 percent.

An early announcement from Trump is also likely to prevent other Republican challengers from throwing their hat into the ring, knowing they'd have to run against him. But while those like Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas have already announced they would pass on running, DeSantis has remained mum on his White House aspirations.