“If he wasn’t running before, he is now,” said a person close to the former president, who wasn’t authorized to speak on the record. “It pisses him off that they can do this to him. One way to get it to stop is to control the government again.”

As an active candidate, Trump could be in a stronger position to argue that the federal investigation amounts to a politically motivated attempt to damage him in a potential showdown with President Joe Biden.

Another incentive to run would be that, should he win, Trump would be insulated from prosecution owing to the Justice Department’s long-standing practice of never charging a sitting president with a crime. He would also regain power to hire and fire the FBI and Justice Department officials who have great sway over whom to investigate and charge.

None of those realities are lost on Trump, the source said…

“The FBI raiding Trump’s beloved Mar-a-Lago rips the 2024 Republican primary wide open. The Trump era is over, and it’s anybody’s ball,” GOP donor Dan Eberhart said. “The logjam of Republican candidates waiting to see if Trump was going to run just burst. There’s no need for them to wait anymore.”