If Trump gets crushed, what's next for the GOP?

[WVdemocrat]

All depends on what happens in Hillary's first term. Has ISIS been defeated or is it on the march? What's happening on the foreign policy front in general? Is the economy still improving or does it go into recession? How much of Hillary's domestic agenda is she able to push through Congress? Any major scandals?

Without knowing any of that, my best guess is that they'll say Trump wasn't a real conservative and Cruz walks away with the nomination in 2020. The biggest question will be whether the election is a domestic election or a foreign policy election. If the world is looking more uncertain (ISIS on the march, Europe disintegrating, Russia empowered, etc), then it might fuel another Trumpian character to nomination. If the economy is in the slumps but ISIS is in a state of collapse, I think the GOP might return to its old ways and those conditions might allow an establishment Pub like Ryan or Rubio, who will advertise trickle-down economics and fiscal responsibility as the centerpiece of their platform, to be nominated.

Most likely it goes further to the right, and as to whether they nominate a Trumpian candidate or a "true conservative" is up in the air.