GOP senator: ‘Too difficult to say’ if Trump will be 2020 nominee

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) on Monday said she’s unsure whether President Trump will be the Republican Party’s presidential nominee in 2020.

In an interview with MSNBC’s Hallie Jackson, Collins, who wrote in Speaker Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) name for president in 2016, said it’s “too early to tell” whether Trump will seek a second term.

Asked if she believes Trump will be the party’s 2020 nominee, Collins responded: “It’s too difficult to say.”

{mosads}Trump’s campaign has not taken a break since the president’s surprise electoral victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton in November.

The campaign has been relentlessly fundraising and releasing campaign ads, while the president has taken breaks from his White House duties to hit the road for rallies in the states that he won in 2016.

It is exceedingly rare for an incumbent president to receive a primary challenge. It last happened in 1992, when conservative firebrand Pat Buchanan challenged former President George H.W. Bush.

But Trump’s historically low approval rating and the shadow of the Russia investigation have added to the sense that he could attract a primary challenger or decline to seek a second term.

Trump’s critics within the GOP, including Sen. Jeff Flake (Ariz.), Sen. Ben Sasse (Neb.) and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, are among those generating early buzz.

But Trump has a solid grip on his base of supporters, and many Republicans think a primary challenge against him would be a suicide mission unless there is movement to impeach him or he decides to walk away.