'He's going to cash out': Joe Scarborough says he doesn't think Trump will run for reelection in 2020

CBS

Joe Scarborough appeared on The Late Show Thursday night, along with his Morning Joe co-host and fiancée Mika Brzezinski.

• Joe Scarborough appeared on "The Late Show" with Stephen Colbert Thursday night. 
• The MSNBC "Morning Joe" host said he didn't think President Donald Trump will run for reelection in 2020.
• "He didn't want to be elected president. He didn't think he was going to be elected president. He didn't even think he was going to get the Republican nomination. He's going to cash out," he said. 

Joe Scarborough thinks President Donald Trump will be moving out of the White House come January 2021 - by his own choice.

In an interview on "The Late Show" with Stephen Colbert Thursday night, the MSNBC "Morning Joe" cohost was asked if he thinks any Republican will challenge Trump for the party's nomination in the 2020 presidential election. 

"I think so," Scarborough said. "But I will say it again, I don't think they're going to have to step up to challenge Donald Trump because I don't think Donald Trump is going to run for reelection." 

He continued: "He didn't want to be elected president.  He didn't think he was going to be elected president. He didn't even think he was going to get the Republican nomination. He's going to cash out." 

Colbert responded that he thinks "that would be a smart thing for him to do." 

When audience members started laughing, Colbert said "I'm serious." 

"I'll tell you why I don't want that it to happen," Colbert continued. "I think it's important that the voters of American have an opportunity to say, oops, my bad, we made a mistake there and correct themselves, and if Donald Trump doesn't run, he takes away that corrective action of history and therefore his presidency is whole and unjudged if he just doesn't run again."

"He says, 'I fixed it, made it great again, goodbye,' and takes the 100 million he's raised and goes and makes another failing casino or something," Colbert said.

Scarborough disagreed. 

"See that's the thing, he won't do that now. He'll get money from the Saudis. He's right now proving to the Saudis that he'll be their lap dog. He'll make money from Putin when he gets out. That's why he's been Putin's lap dog. Donald Trump is all about money. It's what drives him," Scarborough said. 

Scott Morgan/Reuters

Trump is seen speaking with Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski on their MSNBC show in January 2016.

Scarborough's opinion on whether Trump will run for reelection is noteworthy, since the two used to be quite close.

When he first announced his candidacy in 2015, Trump was a frequent guest on Scarborough's show. 

But over the course of the campaign Scarborough and his cohost and fiancée, Mika Brzezinski, became more critical of Trump, and in turn, became the targets of some of his nastiest tweets. 

And it's not a one-sided affair. Scarborough has become one of Trump fiercest critics as well. In an August 2016 op-ed for The Washington Post, he called for the Republican Party to dump Trump as their candidate, and later questioned Trump's mental fitness for office.

Trump's presidency even caused Scarborough to switch political parties. In another "Late Show" appearance in July 2017, he said he planned to leave the Republican Party to become an independent.