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Some of the chaos that will follow the loss of Donald Trump from the presidential election is already known. The United States exited the Paris climate accord on Wednesday regardless. The coronavirus pandemic that has already claimed nearly a quarter of a million lives in the United States will get worse. Trump has hinted that he will try to fire Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading expert on infectious diseases.
But Trump’s defeat also marks the ticking of the clock in 11 weeks that some analysts believe could be the most dangerous period in American history, the time before Joe Biden’s inauguration on January 20 during which time. a vindictive president can wreak havoc if he so chooses.
“If Trump loses power, he will spend his last 90 days tearing America apart like a malicious child with a mallet in a china shop,” said Malcolm Nance, a veteran intelligence analyst and political author, speaking before the break was known. election result. known.
“We are likely to see the biggest political tantrum in history. You may decide that you want to come out strong, you may decide that you will not accept the outcome of the election. Who knows what a cornered autocrat will do?
Nance’s fears are based as much on Trump’s track record as his failure to take action to counter the spread of Covid-19 and what he can still do. Self-preservation in the face of mounting legal and financial pressures will be paramount, Nance believes, with the president pushing his executive and constitutional powers to the limit or beyond.
He will forgive himself. There is absolutely no question about it, “said Nance. “He hopes the supreme court will cover him. He has always fixed things in his life and now he believes that he owns the American judicial system. “
While a series of executive actions is possible to roll back environmental and industrial regulations further, analysts believe that a defeated Trump will be less politically motivated and more self-centered. Nance’s main concern is the possibility of civil unrest, on the part of Trump supporters, including armed militias, white supremacists and other activists ignited by their leader’s perceived calls to arms.
“All these convoys of 100 trucks can start marching as if they were entering Mosul,” he said. “It is like an insurgency. Let’s find out … if they rise up en masse and say we don’t accept this, Donald Trump is our man, and they start parading and taking over the election boards. “
Dishonored Trump associates who have broken the law could also be beneficiaries of the outgoing president’s benevolence, including his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, former national security adviser Michael Flynn and Steve Bannon, the architect of Trump’s victory in 2016 currently facing fraud charges.
There will be new scrutiny on Trump’s own financial dealings. The Manhattan district attorney’s office has been investigating Trump and his business empire for possible bank and insurance fraud, but has been unable to take action while in office.
Trump will soon lose the protection of Bill Barr, the attorney general whom critics have accused of acting as the president’s personal attorney. That means Trump has an ever shorter window of opportunity to prepare for whatever legal consequences he may expect.
“He is a compromised person, a broken asset of a foreign power, and has been under the slavery, pay or probably debt of Vladimir Putin,” Nance said. “Anything that benefits him personally, anything that benefits what he thinks his brand is, it will.”
Other analysts agree.
“Trump will likely spend his final months in a flurry of self-treatment, dismissing pardons and trying to discredit his opponents and the system itself,” Garry Kasparov, former world chess champion and president of the Human Rights Foundation, said in a statement. op-ed for CNN.
“Americans who want the rule of law to be restored and strengthened must be ready to fight for it, in court and on the streets if necessary, peacefully but persistently, because there is little doubt that Trump and his supporters they will not remain calm. “
Not all experts believe that a Trump presidency will be completely volatile. “What will stop him is the fear of jail,” Stuart Stevens, a veteran Republican consultant, told Salon.
“Why has the postmaster general backed down?” Stevens asked Louis DeJoy, the Republican donor who many believe was installed in an attempt to cripple voting by mail. “He doesn’t want to go to jail. He’s willing to do a lot for Trump, but he didn’t want to go to jail. That fear is what would stop Trump. “
Ultimately, Trump will spend his final days in the White House trying to avoid looking like a loser or a failure, analysts say.
“I have a lot of experience with third world autocrats, despots and potentates, so I got to see how these people behave,” Nance said.
“There has been a change in the way autocrats and aspiring autocrats like Donald Trump have ended their careers. In the old days, if your political enemies didn’t kill you, you took a billion dollars, went to the French Riviera, and disappeared. They just walked off stage.
“Now they don’t want to do that anymore. They want to have all their money and stay in power and spend the money. Who knows with Donald Trump?
