Anyone else fear Trump will refuse to leave office if defeated or impeached?

[Higgins]

If Trump is impeached at some point and convicted, or if he is defeated in 2020, I can easily see him refusing to cooperate and go; IE if he loses in 2020 he'll claim the election was stolen and try to get the Congress to grant him Emergency Powers to stay in office until the "legitimacy" of the election can be determined. I know people said this about Bush II and Obama but I do feel Trump is of a different nature than him. He has a legion of would-be Brown Shirts who would, I believe, set the nation on fire if he gave them the word to...And given his strongman-esque persona, God knows how much support he has in the military.

During the waning days of Watergate, there was great fear Nixon would use the elements of the military loyal to him to instigate a coup to keep him in power. While Nixon was an SOB, he knew when the game was up and was already planning his next great campaign - rehabilitation. Nixon didn't have Trump's fragile ego, or his malignant narcissism though. Look at the way Trump is STILL going on about 'Crooked Hillary' and trying to prove he won the Popular Vote - even trying to get the States to fudge the results for him - nearly a year later. Can you imagine what he would do if he were outright defeated?

I fear if he is defeated, we will see the beginning of a Trump dynasty as he refuses to leave office, loyalist military men fall in line, and his cultists violently suppress opposition. Same goes for if he is impeached, though to a lesser degree.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Give the Republicans in Congress and the military more credit.  The vast majority of them would choose the country over Trump.

[Hammy]

Give the Republicans in Congress and the military more credit.  The vast majority of them would choose the country over Trump.

I'll give the military that credit that they wouldn't do this--I can more see them intervening to stop Trump from doing this. I won't give any such credit to congressional Republicans because they have yet to put anything before immediate partisan interests.

[Higgins]

Give the Republicans in Congress and the military more credit.  The vast majority of them would choose the country over Trump.

I give the military as a whole credit. But I can certainly see rogue elements of the military, or select generals, supporting a Trump dictatorship if it came to that.

[TheSaint250]

Can't they just arrest him and throw him out?

[Higgins]

Can't they just arrest him and throw him out?

He uses private security, who is loyal to him, more often than he does the SS.
I can see him even trying to form a "government in exile" of sorts, with his cultists, rogue chunks of the military, and such even if he is successfully thrown out. I was old enough to experience Bush, and I never feared him becoming a Dictator as some Dems did. I never feared it with Obama, either. Trump is different. I believe he is the greatest threat to our Republic since the Confederacy.

[emailking]

If he is impeached or defeated then he no longer has the powers of the Presidency, no matter what he says or does. Bills would not come to him for signing unless Congress still has them sent to him (instead of the real President). Executive orders would not be carried out unless the relevant parts of the government see him as legitimate. Orders to the military would not be carried out unless the Secretary of Defense follows those orders. And he can only physically remain in the White House if the Secret Service allows him to stay.

So unless there is some huge dispute that extends beyond Trump's brain, I don't think it will ultimately matter. But he could definitely cause a great headache if kept insisting he's President when he's not.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Eh. Not really worried about it specifically.

For one, because he and his inner circle have demonstrated such gross incompetence they'd mess that up too.

But really, it's mostly that it doesn't matter if he tried to hold onto power with his teeth or not. Just by getting to this point, by running the campaign that he did and not being (metaphorically) run out of the country on a rail, by winning the nomination and having a major party hold a bonfire for the shreds of its principles and integrity, by winning the Presidency and proving that American democracy and ideals are just a cheap facade, he has done far far far more damage to the nation than any pathetic attempt to cling to power and become an unlawful dictator. (Having openly abandoned his oath and claiming total legal immunity, he's practically one already anyway.)

[Tekken_Guy]

No. Police and military will force him to leave if he doesn't do it on his own.

[Person Man]

For all we know, the Alt-Right might convince him to set up a dynasty. I can see him making "Trump" the new "Caesar" and the Trump Towers and Mar a Lago being new "Capitols" for his children. Maybe Donald will run from the Whitehouse and let Barron suceed him while Eric rules the West from Las Vegas, Jr rules the midwest from Chicago, Ivanka and Jared the North from Manhattan and eventually Tiffany the South from Mar a Lago.

[dead0man]

remember when the people said the same things about Obama and Dubya?  I don't think it was a thing before Dubya....at least not consistently.  I'm pretty sure we had people here on this very message board that were very worried he was going to start a war with Iran and then refuse to leave office after Obama won the election.


No, there is no way in hell the military (or even some subset of crazy generals, as if the people serving under generals give a sh**t about any specific general they are serving under) is going to back some clown from NYC over the contract they signed with their country.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

What's he gonna do, beat up the US marshalls?

[Person Man]

remember when the people said the same things about Obama and Dubya?  I don't think it was a thing before Dubya....at least not consistently.  I'm pretty sure we had people here on this very message board that were very worried he was going to start a war with Iran and then refuse to leave office after Obama won the election.


No, there is no way in hell the military (or even some subset of crazy generals, as if the people serving under generals give a sh**t about any specific general they are serving under) is going to back some clown from NYC over the contract they signed with their country.

Wasn't it around with Clinton? For some reason, he was the first president that won in living memory where the opposition party just went crazy. Its been a tradition since.

Was it just because he won despite in many people's minds, he should have been Gary Harted?

[GeorgiaModerate]

remember when the people said the same things about Obama and Dubya?  I don't think it was a thing before Dubya....at least not consistently.  I'm pretty sure we had people here on this very message board that were very worried he was going to start a war with Iran and then refuse to leave office after Obama won the election.


No, there is no way in hell the military (or even some subset of crazy generals, as if the people serving under generals give a sh**t about any specific general they are serving under) is going to back some clown from NYC over the contract they signed with their country.

Wasn't it around with Clinton? For some reason, he was the first president that won in living memory where the opposition party just went crazy. Its been a tradition since.

Was it just because he won despite in many people's minds, he should have been Gary Harted?

There was some speculation during Watergate that Nixon might refuse to leave office if he was impeached and convicted, but it wasn't nearly to the extent we've seen with recent Presidents.  The level of conspiracy theory craziness was much lower in those days.

[BlueSwan]

I wouldn't be surprised if he tried, but I'm fairly confident that he wouldn't succeed. Even the worlds most feared dictators need strong support from people in power to exercise their might. Thankfully, I don't think Trump has that support. Add to that his immense incompetence and I think we'll be alright.

[ProudModerate2]

I wouldn't be surprised if he tried, but I'm fairly 100% confident that he wouldn't succeed.

[They not like us]

What's he gonna do, beat up the US marshalls?

HIGH ENERGY SUPER MALE VITALITY

[mvd10]

For all we know, the Alt-Right might convince him to set up a dynasty. I can see him making "Trump" the new "Caesar" and the Trump Towers and Mar a Lago being new "Capitols" for his children. Maybe Donald will run from the Whitehouse and let Barron suceed him while Eric rules the West from Las Vegas, Jr rules the midwest from Chicago, Ivanka and Jared the North from Manhattan and eventually Tiffany the South from Mar a Lago.

Nah, Trump will make Tiffany Hand of the King Trump.

[Crumpets]

I think Trump's mentality is more one of "If I go down, I'm taking you with me" than "retain power at all costs." If he does have some wild reaction to an impeachment or lost election, I think it would look more like leaking tons of classified information, calling the press about dirt on congresspeople, doxing them, maybe stealing some stuff from the White House, etc.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

Please. Trump is barely President now.

[Koharu]

No. Police and military will force him to leave if he doesn't do it on his own.

Yep. Besides, very few people would listen to him if he did try to stay. He could chill in the White House and tweet about how unfair everything is, but most foreign powers would recognize his replacement, as would the majority of the country.