When Donald Trump heaved off to Mar-a-Lago for his latest “golf vacation,” there seemed a fair chance that he’d not bother returning to Washington. After all, Trump has already made it clear he’s going to defy every single tradition that has marked a peaceful transition over the last century. He’s not going to call Joe Biden and offer his congratulations. He’s not going to invite Biden and his family for a White House tour. He’s not going to share a car with Biden for that last awkward drive to the inauguration. So it seemed like Trump might as well stay in Florida and carry on exploring the depths of the 12th hole bunkers. It’s not like he was going to do any work back at the White House. After all, why start now?
But after selling hundreds of tickets to the New Year’s Eve warm shrimp and all the pardons you want buffet at his we-are-never-calling-it-the-southern-White-House, Trump made an abrupt change of plans. He’s flying back to Washington, D.C. unexpectedly on Thursday morning, leaving everyone back at Mar-a-Lago to worry about how they’re going to explain that little tax problem if they don’t get a chance to join Trump in the luxury ketchup line. And it leaves everyone there, and elsewhere, wondering just what Trump is doing now.
Donald Trump may be the best delegator to ever occupy the White House. Though, admittedly, that task is made much easier if you simply don’t care about the outcome. There are few situations that seem to require Trump’s physical presence. (At least, few that don’t involve getting a chance to stand in front of a camera.) So what’s worth a fast trip back to Washington, leaving his dues-paying fans in Florida disappointed? Coup plotting.
According to CNN, Trump has been “single minded” during his stay in the south. Even though the nation is experiencing record levels of COVID-19 and hospitals are overflowing as deaths pass 350,000, Trump is completely focused on one thing: How can he disrupt the Jan. 6 congressional count of the vote from the Electoral College?
Trump’s record in court is now 1 to … it doesn’t matter. All the krakens are slain. The level of ridiculous has been reached where Trump’s team filed a fresh lawsuit in Wisconsin asking that the state send a slate of alternate electors when the electors have already voted. That time is past. It’s not electors waiting in the box that Mike Pence is set to open on Jan. 6, it’s just their votes—306 of which are for Joe Biden.
But, says CNN, Trump has been in “a mood during most of the trip.” And Trump seems confused over why Pence doesn’t just crack open the vote box, peek inside, and declare Trump the victor. Not only has Trump retweeted calls for Pence to refuse to ratify the electoral vote, he’s backed a lawsuit by Rep. Louie Gohmert calling on Pence to set aside votes from enough states to make Trump’s 232 votes a “win.”
Not only would that mean putting tens of millions of votes from seven states in the dumpster—Pence simply doesn’t have that authority. His role next Wednesday is to open the box, and … that’s pretty much it. Clerks will tally the vote. If, as seems almost certain at this point, Republican members of the House and Senate combine to mount an objection to the announced totals, it will be Congress that votes on those objections.
During his time in Florida, Trump has apparently made a lot of calls from the fairway back to senators and congresspeople soliciting their participation in this last-ditch scheme to overturn democracy. Not only has he continuously brought up the Jan. 6 date with anyone who would listen, Trump has also been tweeting for his most reprehensible followers to gather in the capital that day for a “wild” time.
Still, even for a coup to overturn a centuries-old Republic, six whole days in Washington seems like a lot of effort for Trump. Is he really scrambling back to Washington on Thursday just to plan which balcony is best for naming himself dictator-for-life? Maybe. It could also be that Trump feels like he needs a couple of extra days to brow-beat the wholly brow-beatable Pence into forgetting that he can’t actually just ignore the results of the election in declaring the winner.
But honestly, that’s the good outcome. Considering that Trump sent B-52 bombers to raise hackles in Iran on Wednesday, everyone should just hope that he’s devoting so much of his attention to his plans for wild rumpusing that he doesn’t get around to a last-minute war.
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