Trump's Post-Presidency

It looks like Biden is the victor, assuming no court intervention. Whatever happens between now and January 20th, the Press will focus on Trump. They will not admit it, but they will miss him greatly. Unless he runs into Alberto Fujimori on the golf course, Trump will provide reliable entertainment as he has always done. The Press will clutch their pearls and say “how dare he?”

Moreover, Trump will find a way to stay relevant. He will visit foreign capitals and mouth off as usual—stealing the new president’s thunder. Imagine a two-year world tour, à la Ulysses Grant. He would be unable to comply with subpoenas, could not be called to testify, and would wreak havoc wherever he went.

Let’s say Trump were to grant his first post-presidency interview to Howard Stern: how many millions would tune in? It’s quite possible, indeed, as I write this I think it is more and more likely—that Trump will continue to grab the spotlight in new and astonishing ways in his post-presidential career.

Dick Cheney re-invented the Office of the Vice-President. Trump could re-invent the post-presidency. Jimmy Carter devoted his post-presidential years to doing good deeds. Imagine a president who devoted his post-presidential years to further shenanigans, to getting even with the American public.

Trump would be the darling of any out of power foreign administration, giving them continued legitimacy merely because of his appearance. Imagine if Trump were to meet with the Dalai Lama. China would be furious and American reassurances that “he’s only a private citizen” would be ignored by the Chinese, who would see this as some kind of insidious American scheme. Freed of the constraints of the White House, Trump can be relied on to be unpredictable and the unpredictable is dangerous.

Biden would have to beg Trump to behave, making Trump a kind of “senior-president” holding a veto over those policies of the new administration he didn’t like. The Catholic Church has two popes. Why can’t the United States have two presidents? The fact that one is in the White House and the other on Twitter won’t matter to a constituency that increasingly spends most of its time on the Internet anyway. It’s all greenfield—a perfect environment without rules for one who never believed that the rules applied to him anyway. It will be an amazing show and the press will cover every move.

Or, Trump can join Jimmy Carter and build houses for the poor. Yeah, right.

Whatever Biden plans to do, he better do it fast—he will be a one-term president. I say this without any regard for his future policies or popularity, but merely due to his age. After age 60, years are like dog years. Biden will be 83 at the end of his term.

Eighty-three. Maybe there will be an “80 is the new 60” campaign.

Danger Will Robinson: Biden may try to raise taxes significantly, knowing that he doesn’t have to stand for re-election. People voted for Biden not because they were enamored of him or his traditional Democratic policies, but because he wasn’t Trump. What does Biden stand for? What will be the issue de jour that he sets upon and decides to call his own? Wouldn’t it be ironic if Biden turns out to be the real demagogue?

Every move that Biden makes will be attacked by Trump, who will inevitably get the microphone and attention. And that is precisely what he wants. What he so desperately needs.

With Biden in the White House, I expect four years of stasis. The Ship of State will barely move. The Democrats will squabble amongst themselves. The Republicans will say “no” to their “yes.” Expect two full years of new investigations, of Trump, Hunter Biden and others, both known and unknown to the grand jury. These sideshows will consume a great deal of energy but will amount to nothing.