Retrumped

Looking through our extensive archive, I see that our first mention of Donald Trump came back in 2007, in a post about the Second Life real estate market, where he is referenced in his capacity as an archetypal successful tycoon, though even at that time there was a cartoonish element to his public persona.

Trump next turns up in late summer 2015, when we note in passing that his popularity is rising. Into 2016, and his name features more frequently, as we first dismiss the possibility that he will be the Republican nominee, then assure readers that he has no chance of capturing the Presidency.

(In defence of that latter prediction I would point out that Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, which in any normal country would have given her the job, but we reckoned without the vagaries of the Electoral College).

Unsurprisingly, the antics of the Executive Branch provided material for plenty of posts over the next four years, culminating in the tragicomedy of the Capitol riot.

I’ll admit that at that point I thought Trump would cut his losses and retire to the lucrative lecture circuit, a career move which would probably have kept him out of jail, since, notwithstanding high-minded rhetoric about nobody being above the law, the US doesn’t really see itself as the sort of country where you can be locked up for losing an election. However, for whatever reason, he’s decided to run again, exposing himself to legal peril, and pitching us into a rerun of the GOP primary of eight years ago, but this time without the laughs.

Where will it all end? My track record of forecasts on this topic is obviously abysmal, but I’ll hazard a guess that Trump will be the Republican candidate in 2024, and that Joe Biden will beat him again. His various trials will be postponed until after polling day, but his misdeeds will eventually catch up with him.

Will Trump attempt another coup when it becomes obvious he has no chance of a legitimate win? He may, but if it’s anything like the laughably amateur affair detailed in the Georgia indictment, then it seems very unlikely he will succeed, and the heavy sentences being handed down to the would-be insurrectionists of January ‘21 will deter all but the most deluded of his followers from joining in.

That’s how I see things today anyhow; my opinion is subject to change as events unfold. If nothing else, the renewed Trump Show should inspire me to post a little more frequently over the next few months, which may not entirely make up for the chaos he could unleash, but will at least keep me amused.