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He Might Resign

Jim Mason
Nov 13, 2020

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The last thing Trump wants to do is work for the next two months

NewStatesman

Whatever Donald Trump does next, it will likely be something dramatic. The Presidency for him has never been about governing. It has always been about showmanship focused on him. His dilemma now is how to keep the show going without being seen as a “loser”.

In his mind there are probably only two ways to do that. One is to make a dramatic military move, to “take out” an Iranian nuclear facility, or possibly the North Korean dictator. Then, in the short-run Trump would probably be hailed by many people as a hero, despite the near-term and longer-term consequences.

Another dramatic move would be, rather than conceding defeat and cooperating with the President elect, to resign as President and continue to claim that the election was “stolen” from him. Then he could go off to his resort in Florida to watch TV and play golf, while he thinks about his real dilemma — what to do about his financial and legal problems after the new President Pence pardons him for any federal crimes. He could still maintain that he is not a “loser”, but a “victim”, and pretend that he will be planning a big comeback in 2024.

The option that most people would like — that he concedes defeat and cooperates with the incoming administration — seems an idea that his ego is incapable of accepting.

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Jim Mason
Jim Mason

Written by Jim Mason

I study language, cognition, and humans as social animals. You can support me by joining Medium at https://jmason37-80878.medium.com/membership

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