You seem to think if he had made the run earlier he would have had different results. I don't think so. I think it took the whitehates that long to gather all the cabal's dirty laundry as ammunition to bring them down. If they had started earlier that would have failed without that ammo.

I'll give you this he may not intend to return, but he does intend to guide the country for the foreseeable future. He isn't setting up a new media just for shits and giggles. If he isn't planning on running you can bet his replacement has already been selected, but is not being exposed at this time intentionally.