Donald Trump may be keeping out of sight inside his grand Florida estate - but he's seemingly sitting on a growing war chest.
According to reports, the former president has racked up more than $100million from his political committees, sparking rumours that he is gearing up for a run at the 2024 US elections.
Since losing the contest last year to President Biden, Trump has steadfastly stuck to his baseless accusations that the results were rigged, fanning the flames of conspiracy amongst his loyal supporters.
Indeed, alongside the millions donated by cash-flush donors, he is also appealing to ordinary fans to prop up his campaign for 'justice' - last week launching a bizarre membership card for 'patriots' mocked for a cringe spelling error.
But how realistic is a second run for the embittered 75-year-old, who is said to be suffering from high-blood pressure and facing a series of legal challenges?
Ex-president vows to 'fight for truth' with $100m in bank
Despite being ousted by the American public, Trump remains far and away the most handsomely funded member of the Republican Party.
The former reality star has around $102 million cash on hand, according to WinRed, the GOP's main contribution site, with $82 million raised from January 1 to June 31 this year.
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After Trump, the next-highest individual fundraiser among Republicans was Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, who raised $7.8million.
Addressing the reports of his huge fundraising, Trump said in a statement: "Bringing the truth about the Rigged and Stolen 2020 election to light is critical to restoring faith in our election process and our country itself.
"On behalf of the millions of men and women who share my outrage and want me to continue to fight for the truth, I am grateful for your support."
The rumours surrounding a renewed push for the presidency were fuelled by Trump's former White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, who claimed he had been meeting with 'cabinet members' at his golf club in New Jersey.
"We met with several of our cabinet members tonight," Meadows told the right-wing news site Newsmax a day before the figures were released.
"We actually had a follow-up member meeting with some of our cabinet members, and as we were looking at that we were looking at what does come next."
'He thinks he will face Kamala Harris'
The rattled Republican has cut a tormented figure since leaving office, crashing weddings at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and teasing followers with ambiguous nods towards his future.
On February 28, he made his first public address since leaving the White House, speaking to a rapturous crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), where he hinted at making a second run for the presidency.
"I stand before you today to declare that the incredible journey we began together... there's never been a journey so successful. We began it together four years ago and it is far from over," he told the crowd at the Hyatt hotel in Orlando, Florida.
Author Michael Wolff, who recently published his third book on the Trump presidency, Landslide, has dined with the former leader and his wife, Melania, down in Florida.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, he insisted the former TV star already has 2024 in his sights - but thinks he will face a run-off with vice-president Kamala Harris instead.
"He keeps talking about Biden having Alzheimer's and he is convinced that Harris will be the Democratic candidate in 2024 and it will be no contest," Wolff said.
"He doesn't believe there is any chance that Kamala could beat him — but then, he thought that Joe Biden would be no threat.
"That is why, in his mind, the election must have been stolen, because there is no way he could possibly have been beaten by Biden."
Fans flogged 'patriot' cards... with spelling mistake
Such is the former president's draw that Republicans are still said to be flocking to Mar-a-Lago for his 'blessing' ahead of the mid-term elections next year.
Revelling in his role as kingmaker, Trump is also honing his next election message, according to Wolff.
"Perhaps most important, there is his classic hucksterism, and his synoptic U.S.P. — unique selling proposition," the author wrote in the New York Times.
"In 2016 it was “the wall.” For 2022 and 2024 he will have another proposition available: “the steal,” a rallying cry of rage and simplicity."
Indeed, as Trump continues to cry foul, his fanbase is responding in kind - propping up his wealth with sales of T-shirts, signed photographs and, most bizarrely, membership cards.
In an email earlier this month, his political action committee reportedly encouraged supporters to help choose a design for the cards, which would signal loyalty to his 'America First' vision.
"We recently met with the President in his Florida office and showed him four designs," one email read, according to Insider.
"Originally we were planning on releasing just one design, but when President Trump saw the cards on his desk, he said, 'These are BEAUTIFUL. We should let the American People decide - they ALWAYS know best!'"
The membership cards, however, were soon ridiculed on social media.
One included a spelling mistake in the word 'official', while the eagle logo used on another was compared to the emblem used by Nazi Germany during the 1920s.
"Nothing spells official quite like… misspelling 'official'," one commenter noted.
"Sure, they're Nazis, but they're not grammar Nazis," another quipped.
Health 'deteriorating' and legal problems mounting
Despite his reported declarations of intent and poorly-designed membership schemes, there are several roadblocks in the path to any future Trump campaign.
Republican strategist Liz Mair suggests the 75-year-old's health is "deteriorating" and that he is struggling to maintain the energetic image that propelled him to success previously.
"I don’t think he’s in particularly great health and has actually been deteriorating for a while,’ Mair told the Mail.
"People at Mar-a-Lago say he’s trying to push across this image that he’s just as fit and healthy as he was in 2015 — but he’s really not."
Then there are the legal hurdles that have piled up since he gave up the presidency.
Trump is being investigated by the State of New York over possible bank, tax and insurance fraud.
On top of that, he is also being probed over potentially criminal election-tampering in Georgia, following the release of recordings that showed him urging a state official to "find" votes to stop a Democrat victory.
Melania, meanwhile, has showed even less interest in public life than she did during her low-key time as First Lady.
"She’s not a presence at Mar-a-Lago at all. She’s not mingling with people and rarely interacts with her husband’s staff," a source told the Mail.
While many see Trump's legal prospects as the biggest threat to his return to the political stage, Wolff says the unflinching political rebel may seek to use a run to his advantage.
"In Mr. Trump’s logic, this will run the opposite way: Running for president is the best way to directly challenge the prosecutors," he wrote in the New York Times.
"For Democrats, who see him exiled to Mar-a-Lago, stripped of his key social media platforms and facing determined prosecutors, his future seems risible if not pathetic.
"But this is Donald Trump, always ready to strike back harder than he has been struck, to blame anyone but himself, to silence any doubts with the sound of his own voice, to take what he believes is his and, most of all, to seize all available attention."
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