Vivek Ramaswamy has a strategy, but it rests on Trump's exit

For those who speculate about what Vivek Ramaswamy really wants out of his long-shot Republican presidential bid-perhaps a podcast or a television contract the wealthy biotech entrepreneur has one answer.

- Eliza Collins

"I expect to be the president," he said in an interview as he crisscrossed this state ahead of the presidential caucuses Monday that will start the 2024 nomination balloting. But that expectation rests on hopes for a dramatic change in the race: Donald Trump's departure.

Ramaswamy's plan is essentially to wait it out to take over the former president's voter base, should the former president become ineligible to run due to his many legal challenges. The political elite want "to eliminate Trump from contention and trot in their puppet to the White House," he said.

"I think that our base should not fall for that trap," Ramaswamy said. "I'm here to make sure they don't, that we don't. The America First agenda cannot end with Donald Trump." The former president faces 91 criminal charges related in large part to his handling of classified documents and efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Ramaswamy, a brash 38-year-old, said he would consider 10% support in Iowa's caucus results to be a victory-though he thinks he'll do better-and plans to continue to use his nearly $1 billion fortune to continue campaigning into the later-voting states.