As I was discussing this topic last night with a friend, after I wrote the post, another reason for Trump's decision became clearer.
When he announced he wasn't going to run, he mentioned that the network carrying his reality television program had just given him a monetary offer he couldn't refuse, saying the swing between running and not running was something on the order of a net $300MM.
Having said that to my friend, I realized what Trump had probably been doing all along.
By claiming to be interested in a presidential run, Trump probably forced NBC into a maximal offer to dissuade him from running for the White House.
Who knows the exact numbers, but perhaps he squeezed an extra $5-10MM of value out of the television deal in exchange for dropping a bid about which he was never serious.
My guess is, deep down, Trump was always using the campaign option strictly as a stalking horse in his negotiations with NBC.
I'm sure he enjoyed the temporary extra publicity. If it wanes, that's not his problem- he has his new, richer contract with the network.
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