Over the Edge

One imaginable but 100% unlikely scenario is that, persuaded by circumstance or loved ones, and somehow able to recognize how unsuitable he is as president, Trump could resign and deport himself from Washington, D.C., to spend the rest of his dotage in Mar-a-lago, living a sleazily earned life of leisure. Ideally, he would do that after firing, or bullying into quitting, everyone he has appointed or hired to work in the government: cabinet, judges, staff, and all the chiefs and underlings. If he could remove the VP, as well, so much the better. All of that an inversion of his lies about having won the 2020 election. In this case, he won the 2024 election (though with less than 50% of the vote), but as a result the American people lost it grievously.

A much more plausible way for him to depart before his term ends: he could be impeached, tried, convicted, and expelled from office. Among other delusions, he continues to claim not only that he won the national election in 2020 that he didn’t win, but also that he ended wars he didn’t end, should be awarded a prestigious peace prize he could never earn, and will occupy a place in American history other than that of a regrettable, disgraceful, embarrassing (for our nation), and tragic (for too many people) anomaly.

That exit would/will no doubt have to happen after this year’s midterm elections, which will have to be fair enough to produce that result (Trump is trying to arrange otherwise). Also, IMO, in every corner of the country the Democratic Party would have to rise to the occasion, reaching out personably, compassionately, realistically, and encouragingly to all Americans, including Trump’s and the GOP’s supporters.

If the American people, via their representatives, were to impeach and convict Trump, he might respond with typical self-pity and fury. He might refuse to leave the White House, even summon another January 6 mob to protect him. If that were to fail, his psyche is so clouded that, terrible though it would be, he might commit suicide there, like Hitler in his Berlin bunker. Hopefully, if he did, the act would be painless and private. No doubt his loved ones and friends would do their best to put him on a peaceful path. But it’s not hard to imagine that he would choose a more flamboyant way to end his life, better suited to martyrdom, such as a flag-waving tumble from atop a Trump tower or, more likely, the Washington Monument.

No one would wish for such an end. Trump is as human as any of us, and has done good in addition to all the malevolent harm. And his years-long presence in the public sphere, with its outreach to many neglected Americans, and the genius, charisma, and brash authenticity of it, however slimy, has been a corrective and a wakeup call for all of us, our institutions, and our nation. 

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Any early end to Trump’s presidency would be particularly unpleasant for his admirers, especially the angry, not-doing-what-Jesus-would-do, pseudoChristian fringe that approvingly believes, not incorrectly, that under him an aggressive, cruel, lawbreaking, antidemocratic, unAmerican, white Christian supremacist/nationalist takeover of our country is under way. But any end to his regime would be a change for the better for everyone, including them.

In the mean time (double-meaning intended), how might what Trump and his zealous gang are doing evolve? To anything like this (below)?

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