Longtime political operative Roger Stone declared on Newsmax that Donald Trump’s 2015 campaign wasn’t a spontaneous decision—it was the culmination of a presidential vision Stone had championed since 1988.
At a Glance
- Roger Stone appeared on Newsmax, calling Trump’s 2015 announcement “the fulfillment of a dream”
- Stone said he had urged Trump to run for President as early as 1988
- The “golden escalator” moment at Trump Tower symbolized a decades-long political strategy
- Stone remained a trusted Trump adviser through multiple campaigns and legal battles
- The statement aligns with Stone’s narrative of long-term influence over MAGA politics
A Dream Three Decades in the Making
Appearing on Greg Kelly Reports, Roger Stone described Trump’s now-iconic 2015 announcement as the realization of a strategy decades in the making. According to Stone, he first urged Trump to run for President in 1988 during the Reagan era, and his early support never wavered.
“That golden escalator moment,” Stone said, “was the fulfillment of a dream I had in 1988.” Trump’s official campaign launch—descending the Trump Tower escalator on June 16, 2015—marked a carefully cultivated plan, not a last-minute political pivot.
Watch a report: Roger Stone: Trump’s Campaign Was a 30-Year Plan
Stone’s Influence and Loyalty
Stone, known for his flamboyant style and Nixon tattoo, has been one of Trump’s closest political confidants. He played advisory roles in Trump’s early flirtations with presidential bids and became a key figure in the 2016 campaign. Despite facing indictment in the Mueller investigation, Trump later pardoned Stone, cementing their relationship.
Stone’s appearance on Newsmax was as much retrospective as it was strategic, positioning himself once again as a kingmaker in Republican politics. He emphasized that Trump’s political rise wasn’t accidental—it followed decades of cultivation, fundraising, polling, and media shaping, in which Stone claimed a central role.
Rewriting MAGA’s Origin Story
Framing Trump’s candidacy as predestined helps recast MAGA’s origin story—from a 2015 insurgency to a slow-burn revolution. Stone’s remarks suggest a longer arc, positioning the former president not as a disruptor but as a fixture of conservative political evolution.
Whether this narrative reshapes Trump’s legacy remains to be seen, but it reinforces the idea that his presidency was no fluke. It was, according to Roger Stone, a dream deferred—but never abandoned.
