# The argument that Trump will do whatever he wants and no one can stop him is really fucking boring **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [December 12, 2024, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527 "2024-12-12T02:36:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 76
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/1502 "2026-01-07T03:31:18Z")
Asked and answered. > [@Smapti](#): > > A little self-deprecating humor is good for the soul every now and then. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/1503 "2026-01-07T03:32:53Z")
OK. So even you are doubting yourself. Good to know. Hold the line otherwise though. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/1504 "2026-01-07T03:33:16Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > How you manage to walk around with rose-colored glasses and blinders on at the same time is simply astonishing How you even motivate yourself to get out of bed in the morning in a world so utterly bereft of hope and full of self-assurance that things will only get worse from this point on forever and ever is a miracle. ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/1505 "2026-01-07T03:44:31Z")
It’s not so bad as all that. On the other hand we are so fucked there’s no possibility of recovery. [![](https://i.imgflip.com/3svjkw.jpg) ](https://i.imgflip.com/3svjkw.jpg) Start panicking now and beat the rush. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/1506 "2026-01-07T04:16:54Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > with a far less competent breed of sycophants surrounding him. The Project 2025 guys are absolutely competent. I imagine even they are surprised at how much, and how easily, they have succeeded in their goals. Trump is just the clownface of the shitshow while they are in the background dismantling all of our democratic institutions and planning to disrupt fair elections so that they will never be held accountable for their treason. > [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Republicans are fundraising for an “election” so they can get money to line their pockets. The fix is in - they will get “elected” and get to keep the money. Win-win. And there is no way Trump is going to stop sending out his daily fundraising emails. His supporters will always dig deep and find more money to protect him from the evil democrats who are thisclose to defeating him. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/1507 "2026-01-07T04:32:44Z")
> [@aurora\_maire](#): > > The Project 2025 guys are absolutely competent. They are indeed disturbing, and they’ve dome a lot of bad stuff, but there’s very little they’ve done that can’t be undone. There IS a light at the end of the tunnel. One way or another, in three years Donald Trump will not be president anymore. We need to do what we can to make sure that whoever succeeds him will undo the damage he’s done and start us on the slow path back to regaining the world’s trust. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/1508 "2026-01-07T05:04:43Z")
Even if you think you are going to lose, you fight to make any victory for the other side as costly as possible. You fight for generations to follow, not for yourself. What you don’t do is minimalize the problem and argue that a supposedly rosy past can be used as a predictor of what the future brings, or that the law that they are corrupting and subverting will most certainly protect you. Even if all you can accomplish is to be a royal pain in the ass to assholes, well…wear that crown proudly. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/1509 "2026-01-07T05:12:39Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Even if you think you are going to lose, you fight to make any victory for the other side as costly as possible. You fight for generations to follow, not for yourself. It’s also helpful if you don’t go around telling people you expect to lose. Churchill didn’t rouse the British people by telling them a Nazi victory was inevitable. > [@Czarcasm](#): > > What you don’t do is minimalize the problem Good thing nobody around here is doing that, then. I’m glad I’ve never met the Smapti you’ve apparently been talking to. He sounds insufferable. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/1510 "2026-01-07T05:22:11Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > But do elections matter in America? I think it’s pretty clear they don’t anymore. It’s pretty clear that elections don’t matter? Really? What evidence do you have for that? It seems to me like elections _do_ matter a _whole lot_, for example the last one was pretty disastrous. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/1511 "2026-01-07T05:24:35Z")
I’m thinking he’ll just drum up bogus investigations and federal charges against every critical Democratic candidate. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/1512 "2026-01-07T05:41:28Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > but there’s very little they’ve done that can’t be undone. Your estimation of the American public’s understanding of how spending tax dollars improves their lives is amusing. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/1513 "2026-01-07T05:44:33Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > I’m thinking he’ll just drum up bogus investigations and federal charges against every critical Democratic candidate How’s that gone for him so far? > **[Criminal cases against Comey, James dismissed as federal judge rules...](https://www.jurist.org/news/2025/11/criminal-cases-against-comey-james-dismissed-as-federal-judge-rules-prosecutor-was-unlawfully-appointed/)** > > A federal judge on Monday dismissed criminal indictments against former FBI director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, ruling that the prosecutor who secured the charges was app... ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/1514 "2026-01-07T05:46:51Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > What do you do when Trump says, “Cancel the elections,” and more than half the state governments say, “Yes sir!” Then the country falls apart because half of the states disagree on who the legitimate president is. > [@Smapti](#): > > Glory in the fact that the Republican candidate will be getting zero electoral votes and the Democrats will have a 200+ seat majority in the House, I suppose. That’s true, but only half the country will recognize these results. Just like only half the country recognizes the results Trump declares. At that point you effectively have two countries with the same claimed borders and separate recognized governments. That’s not a stable situation. We all know what that leads to. There is no legislative method for the Republicans to force the Democratic states to accept a suspended election. Likewise, there is no legislative method for the Democrats to force Republican states to accept elections held without the Republicans. Now, here’s the thing. Republicans know this. When Trump says “don’t hold elections”, they know that it’s not that simple. Will they follow Trump into what is effectively secession? At a point where he is completely out of political power unless they choose to bend over backwards to grant him that power? I highly doubt it. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/1515 "2026-01-07T05:48:29Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > So if Trump declares yet another “national emergency” that makes elections impossible, and that whatever voting occurs in the states that do hold elections is inadmissible and irrelevant, who exactly is going to stop him? What mechanism is there to suspend national elections during an emergency? Note that during the American Civil War, both midterms and presidential elections were held. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/1516 "2026-01-07T05:55:12Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > When Trump says “don’t hold elections”, they know that it’s not that simple. Will they follow Trump into what is effectively secession? At a point where he is completely out of political power unless they choose to bend over backwards to grant him that power? Hey, you can’t go applying logic here. Don’t you know that Trump’s word is unquestionable and everything He says must come to pass!? He need simply decree that elections are over forever and every single Republican in the country will obey and make it so no matter how many laws they have to break, because the law bends before the will of Trump as surely as the tides themselves obey His command and the sun rises and sets because He wills it. The only reason He hasn’t gotten around to declaring Himself God Emperor yet is because He’s waiting for the perfect time at which to own the libs once and for all in so embarrassing a way that we’ll all commit seppuku to atone for besmirching His holy name. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/1517 "2026-01-07T05:59:32Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Fuck, he could dissolve congress and the Supreme Court for “reasons” and just rule unchecked completely. Say he did that tomorrow, what would each of us do (or anyone) to prevent it? He very obviously _couldn’t_ do that. My opinion of Trump’s own character is low enough that I’m certain that if he thought he could do that, he immediately would. Why doesn’t he? Because being President doesn’t grant you magical powers to control your countrymen. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/1518 "2026-01-07T06:14:12Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > If the country can’t count on people voting in their own self interest, which they consistently do not do, then voting does not matter. So we should do what, abolish Democracy first? ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/1519 "2026-01-07T06:20:37Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Hey, you can’t go applying logic here. Don’t you know that Trump’s word is unquestionable and everything He says must come to pass!? He need simply decree that elections are over forever and every single Republican in the country will obey and make it so no matter how many laws they have to break, because the law bends before the will of Trump as surely as the tides themselves obey His command and the sun rises and sets because He wills it. You’re right, I forgot that Donald collected the Staff of Reagan and Crown of Lincoln granting him complete control over anyone who identifies as a Republican. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/1520 "2026-01-07T06:29:01Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > What mechanism is there to suspend national elections during an emergency? The mechanism I already cited. And it’s pointless to argue that there would be no justification for it. This is Trump. Everything is an emergency if it gives him the power he needs. > [@Babale](#): > > He very obviously _couldn’t_ do that. My opinion of Trump’s own character is low enough that I’m certain that if he thought he could do that, he immediately would. Why doesn’t he? Mainly because he doesn’t need to. He’s already got Congress beaten into a state of cowering dysfunction. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2026, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/1521 "2026-01-07T06:34:31Z")
He doesn’t have to convict or even indict. He’ll go after candidates in close races. The accusations - coming not from a campaign but from an official government agency - will weaken them with low information voters and they’ll have to divert time and money to legal defense. They’ll just have to keep it up until after they lose their elections, then he can drop it. ETA -This is you on April 15th 2025. I bookmarked it. I intend to quote it liberally. > [@Smapti](#): > > If Trump is even still president three months from now I’ll be greatly surprised [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527.md?page=75) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527.md?page=77)