The Best News in a Long Time

During his last days in office, Trump is underscoring that he has been not only the worst president in U.S. history, but also the most dangerous. But there is still cause for measured optimism.

Is it over? Is it finally over, since President Donald Trump has agreed that preparations are being made for the transition of power to Joe Biden? The answer is, no, it will not be over for a while yet.

No one expected Trump to present himself as a respectable, dignified loser. That is not only because there are few things more foreign to him than respectability and dignity; it is above all because his damaged worldview does not recognize the idea that he, Trump, loses. In this respect, his clamoring was predictable. But probably few expected Trump would prove himself to be such a poor loser; that he is prepared to rock the foundations of American democracy over the course of his departure by creating the myth that the election was fraudulent, and asserting that Joe Biden is an illegitimate president.

Trump tempered his approval to begin the transition to Biden with the caveat that he would continue to try to change the election outcome. By now, he himself is pretty sure that these efforts have no chance of success. His team’s lawsuits are being rejected in state courts, often brusquely. Recounts are not changing the results. So, what’s the point? Is Trump really just concerned with his fragile ego? Is he just putting on this circus to be able to say to himself that he is really the winner? As devastating as it is, that would still be the best interpretation.

Trump Has Always Managed To Pull a Houdini

Throughout his career as a businessman, Trump has often found himself in situations that seemed hopeless. Debts mounted, lawsuits piled up, he had to declare bankruptcy several times. But he always managed to pull a Houdini, as Americans say. In other words, he managed to free himself like the escape artist Harry Houdini.

The end of his presidency may be yet another of these apparently hopeless situations. Court challenges loom before Trump. In particular, efforts by the district attorney’s office in Manhattan to access his tax documents could become dangerous for him. The question is being raised again, too, of whether he was guilty of obstructing justice when Special Counsel Robert Mueller was investigating the extent to which his campaign team colluded with Russia in 2016. At the time, Mueller refrained from recommending that Trump be prosecuted explicitly citing presidential immunity. That immunity evaporates on Jan. 20. Then Trump, too, is a citizen like any other.

It is very possible that he is strutting around as he does because he hopes to reach some sort of agreement, or as he would say, a deal. If after all the noise he just leaves and leaves quietly, isn’t it possible that his legal problems would just be silently dropped? Didn’t Richard Nixon evade prosecution after his presidency, even though there were good reasons for bringing charges? It is unclear with whom Trump would make such a deal; the district attorney’s office in Manhattan is especially unlikely to play along with his games. But given how Trump thinks, that may be how he is calculating matters.

The United States Remains a Fragile Union

That is one thing. The other is that Trump is in the process of creating the myth that he has to leave the White House even though he didn’t lose the election; that he remained undefeated on the field of battle, you might say. One can hardly imagine the possible consequences. According to the polls, more than half of Republicans believe that the election was stolen from Trump; among the other half, there is at least doubt about the legitimacy of the vote. Therein lies the foundation for undercutting democracy.

That does not mean the system will soon collapse. But it does mean that it is in danger. The U.S. has seldom been in such a fragile state over the course of its history, and the president is targeting potential breaking points. In his farewell, Trump is presenting himself once again as a disruptive force. During his last days in office, he is demonstrating that he has not only been the worst president in U.S. history, but the most dangerous.

But there is still cause for measured optimism. That the courts are rejecting Trump’s baseless lawsuits, that the election results are being certified, and that the Biden transition is beginning all show that the system is holding up. Until now, it has withstood what was probably its greatest test with flying colors. That did not always seem so certain and it is the best news we’ve had in a long time.