‘I’m not a paid assassin’: Inside Chris Christie’s 2024 decision

A few weeks ago, Chris Christie called up a former Republican presidential candidate and asked for some advice: Should he mount a second presidential run in 2024 — facing off against former President Donald Trump for a second time — or was the idea just plain crazy?

Taking down the most dominant Republican political figure in a generation, the 60-year-old former two-term New Jersey governor has calculated, requires taking direct aim at Trump’s weaknesses — his questionable character, his lack of discipline and, most of all, his losing record.

The...