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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Crouched in what a former White House official called the “presidential man cave” of the Oval Office, President Donald Trump does not want to talk about what awaits him once he leaves office next month.
Several people familiar with the situation say that they know their time is up even as they press the fight against the election result, despite having failed in a series of court challenges to overturn the results of the November 3 elections they made. President to Democrat Joe Biden. elect.
With Monday’s Electoral College vote certifying Biden’s victory, White House staff members are looking for jobs and planning for their post-administration future. First lady Melania Trump has sought a school in Florida, where the couple is expected to reside, for their son Barron, People magazine reported.
A source close to Trump says he doesn’t want to talk about the future beyond his remaining days in office. Any suggestion that he start laying the groundwork for another bid for president in 2024 is shelved, at least for now.
“He does not want to be talked about what he is going to do when he leaves the building,” said the source, requesting anonymity to speak frankly. “He is convinced that he is leaving, but he compartmentalizes things. As long as he is president, he wants to be president.”
Although he was outgoing during his four years in office, Trump has largely closed himself off from the public in recent weeks, communicating primarily through tweets. He has done little to show that he is focused on governing more than speaking at an event to highlight the speed of development of the coronavirus vaccine.
It has not played a major role in responding to the cyber attack on the United States government, an administration official said. “This is not their wheelhouse, and it also involves the Russians, which complicates things.”
Trump consults with a circle of advisers including Vice President Mike Pence and Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who update him on the distribution of vaccines and the stimulus talks underway in Congress.
NO CONCESSION
The president has brought members of his campaign team to receive updates and to urge them to keep fighting.
His refusal to grant the election is prompted by endless phone conversations with his attorney, Rudy Giuliani, and what the former White House official called “a collection of attorneys who have kept the torch burning.”
Trump has refused to grant the election. He spends long days in and out of the Oval Office, sometimes not retiring to the residence until after 8 pm, calling allies and aides to discuss strategy. He spent weekends at his nearby golf property and took a trip to Georgia to campaign for the Republican candidates for the United States Senate.
He frequently emphasizes to advisers that he won 74 million votes, 9 million more than Democrat Barack Obama in his successful re-election bid in 2012. Biden’s 80 million, he tells them, point to fraud.
Trump is upset with his fellow Republican, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, for announcing in the U.S. Senate this week that he considered Biden president-elect, two of the sources said.
Sources said Trump has been ignoring attendees urging him not to carry out a threat to veto a massive defense bill, because he doesn’t feel like he should reward McConnell for what he considers bad behavior.
Trump opposes the $ 740 billion National Defense Authorization Act because it does not repeal a law that gives big tech companies liability for lawsuits. Another source said Trump had been informed that his veto would be overridden, although some in his circle still advised him to go ahead.
The White House declined to comment.
FORGIVENESS RUSH
Trump and his legal team have been preparing a series of possible pardons for him to carry out before leaving office, including for some close allies who may face legal danger, one of the sources said.
Along Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House, a cacophony of noise surges daily from the construction of platforms for Biden’s Opening Day events on January 20.
One source said it was hard to imagine Trump appearing at opening ceremonies and sitting behind Biden, having ridiculed his Democratic campaign rival as incompetent. Trump has declined to say whether he would participate in the old custom of showing the world a peaceful transfer of power.
What’s next for Trump is a matter of speculation.
A source close to Trump said he has in the past toyed with the idea of announcing a race in 2024 on Opening Day to divert attention from Biden. That person and another source said Trump is being advised to postpone an announcement about running again and instead simply scoff at the possibility, because being an official candidate would invite a level of scrutiny he may not want.
The former White House official noted that Trump’s musings about running again would only give Democrats material to investigate in the next few years.
Trump faces a series of civil and criminal legal actions related to his family’s businesses and activities before taking office, which could be accelerated once he loses the legal protections granted to the occupant of the Oval Office.
“If you want to reduce the chances of congressional investigations in 2021 and 2022, the best thing you can do for yourself would be to stop these test balloons,” said the former official.
(Additional reporting by Andrea Shalal, Editing by Soyoung Kim and Howard Goller)
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