# What effect would an acquittal have on Trump's future behaviour? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 30, 2020, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-would-an-acquittal-have-on-trumps-future-behaviour/847215 "2020-01-30T09:58:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2020, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-would-an-acquittal-have-on-trumps-future-behaviour/847215/21 "2020-02-01T00:37:11Z")
No change. He’s so volatile and unpredictable to begin with, that there never were any limits in his mind. The only limitations were how much his handlers could reign him in. Plus, if he were re-elected, I think he’d have many Republican deserters in Congress. They are behind him to help prop themselves up in 2020. Luckily with the term limit, they will no longer have that use for him, and thus go back to pretending they are decent people. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2020, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-would-an-acquittal-have-on-trumps-future-behaviour/847215/22 "2020-02-01T01:18:08Z")
I voted ‘less likely’, for the reason that it seems clear that Trump had no idea he was stepping over a line. He made the comments on a phone call with 20 people listening. He immediately released the transcript, thinking it showed him to be completely innocent. So, he probably won’t make that mistake again. The next time he wants to do a questionable deal, he’ll take more steps to hide it. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2020, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-would-an-acquittal-have-on-trumps-future-behaviour/847215/23 "2020-02-01T01:30:58Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > I voted ‘less likely’, for the reason that it seems clear that Trump had no idea he was stepping over a line. He made the comments on a phone call with 20 people listening. He immediately released the transcript, thinking it showed him to be completely innocent. > > So, he probably won’t make that mistake again. The next time he wants to do a questionable deal, he’ll take more steps to hide it. Wait, that’s basically “no change, but he’ll be sneakier”. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2020, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-would-an-acquittal-have-on-trumps-future-behaviour/847215/24 "2020-02-01T01:34:58Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > I voted ‘less likely’… The next time he wants to do a questionable deal, he’ll take more steps to hide it. Then your answer isn’t really “less likely”. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2020, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-would-an-acquittal-have-on-trumps-future-behaviour/847215/25 "2020-02-01T02:48:15Z")
“Less likely to get caught” I guess. I’d dispute that, he’s sloppy as hell and arrogant doesn’t begin to describe T’s approach. ---
**Author:** ![Karen\_Lingel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karen_lingel/32/18649_2.png) [@Karen\_Lingel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karen_Lingel)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2020, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-would-an-acquittal-have-on-trumps-future-behaviour/847215/26 "2020-02-01T02:53:09Z")
I guess I’ll say “no change” because I think his propensity to do wrong is currently already at the theoretical maximum. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2020, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-would-an-acquittal-have-on-trumps-future-behaviour/847215/27 "2020-02-01T03:01:47Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > Then your answer isn’t really “less likely”. 😕 I guess I meant “less likely to do the same thing”. By which I just meant he’ll be sneakier or more careful next time. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2020, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-would-an-acquittal-have-on-trumps-future-behaviour/847215/28 "2020-02-01T04:53:30Z")
> [@Karen\_Lingel](#): > > I guess I’ll say “no change” because I think his propensity to do wrong is currently already at the theoretical maximum. No. While the United States government is fine with putting children in concentration camps and encouraging disease, it isn’t actually putting them to death yet. The Republican can’t hit bottom because they are the bottom, but there’s plenty of territory left to explore right where they are now. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2020, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-would-an-acquittal-have-on-trumps-future-behaviour/847215/29 "2020-02-01T13:56:33Z")
It’s absolutely going to embolden Trump to behave more like an autocrat. But keep in mind that others now have the skin of their own asses in the vortex of Ukrainian and Russian politics: Bill Barr is involved. Mike Pompeo is involved. Republican senators are involved. I’m guessing that in some cases, it wasn’t just Trump who committed crimes - there are likely a lot of people who could be legitimately prosecuted should the government fall into the hands of someone who actually believes that the rule of law should prevail once again. They have every reason to keep their opposition out of power, and not just this election but permanently. And they will do whatever they think they can get away with. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2020, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-would-an-acquittal-have-on-trumps-future-behaviour/847215/30 "2020-02-01T14:15:28Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I voted no change. As far as I can see, Trump has never believed the rules that other people have to follow apply to him. A Senate acquittal won’t tell him anything he doesn’t already believe is true. In his defence…_do_ they? We have been saying since 2015 that even 1/1024th of the stuff he has pulled with derail any other candidate As the[Daily Show said years ago](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tE_G0hLByqI). ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2020, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-would-an-acquittal-have-on-trumps-future-behaviour/847215/31 "2020-02-01T14:17:50Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > You’re talking about the man who went from one failure to another, larger failure, one after another until he was $2.5 billion in debt and completely blackballed from any bank in the country. …and ended up somehow hosting the most popular show on TV, based on him being a success and then being elected President of the US. If I believed in past lives I would say the Don has been a Saint in the last 25. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2020, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-would-an-acquittal-have-on-trumps-future-behaviour/847215/32 "2020-02-01T14:23:40Z")
Double Post. ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2020, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-would-an-acquittal-have-on-trumps-future-behaviour/847215/33 "2020-02-01T15:13:57Z")
Trump always tests the limits. Now there are no limits. Congress has lost the power of impeachment. There are no boundaries around Trump. He will use the FBI for political opposition research. He can accept emoluments from foreign governments. He can accept election assistance from foreign governments. He can suppress and bias the media. Trump, Barr and Pompeo are an unassailable Triumvirate. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2020, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-would-an-acquittal-have-on-trumps-future-behaviour/847215/34 "2020-02-01T15:30:25Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > Just imagine how unhinged he’ll be if he gets a second term and doesn’t have to worry about getting reelected. What makes you think that? Why let a mere constitutional amendment stop him or his party? ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2020, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-would-an-acquittal-have-on-trumps-future-behaviour/847215/35 "2020-02-01T16:09:04Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > I voted ‘less likely’, for the reason that it seems clear that Trump had no idea he was stepping over a line. He made the comments on a phone call with 20 people listening. He immediately released the transcript, thinking it showed him to be completely innocent. > > So, he probably won’t make that mistake again. The next time he wants to do a questionable deal, he’ll take more steps to hide it. Not likely. What he will glean from this is that he did not step over a line, in fact, there is no line that is too far for him to cross. He will continue to flaunt his abuses of power, secure in the knowledge that the republicans will support him in it. Now, if the senate voted like 65 to convict, then maybe, maybe he’d think that he’d barely gotten away with it, and tone it down, but with the vast majority of the republican party endorsing his behavior, what possible reason would he have for putting up even the thinnest veil of decency? Next time he abuses his office to go after political opponents, he will make sure that everyone knows about it, he will make sure that anyone how dares oppose him knows that they will face the entirety of the US government as their political opponent. Because that’s what fascists do. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2020, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-would-an-acquittal-have-on-trumps-future-behaviour/847215/36 "2020-02-01T16:34:23Z")
> [@Crane](#): > > Trump always tests the limits. Now there are no limits. Congress has lost the power of impeachment. > > There are no boundaries around Trump. He will use the FBI for political opposition research. He can accept emoluments from foreign governments. He can accept election assistance from foreign governments. He can suppress and bias the media. Trump, Barr and Pompeo are an unassailable Triumvirate. He could threaten martial law imposed against states or cities that vote against him, and the Republican party will cheer him on. An acquittal unifies the republicans in their hatred of their fellow citizens. As much as they love “liberal tears”, that’s not enough. They don’t just want to see us shedding tears over the destruction of our country, they want to see us shed our blood as well. ---
**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2020, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-would-an-acquittal-have-on-trumps-future-behaviour/847215/37 "2020-02-01T17:39:54Z")
It’s likely Trump will start with the low hanging fruit: stop reimbursement for political use of Air Force One; prune the press pool to Trump allies; boycott any debates; make some controversial pardons. Then I believe he wants a show stopper. Something like he could deed the BLM ranch to Bundy; he could rescind all government payments (in lieu of taxes) to counties in Nevada and New Mexico unless they vote Republican; I’m sure there are other/better ways to declare war on a blue state that will be brought to his attention. Like k9b’s declaring martial law in a blue state. He might even start big and take on California. Trump has the advantage, he can do anything he wants, California has to respond through his courts. Since he feels his re-election is in the best interest of the US, he can do anything. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2020, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-would-an-acquittal-have-on-trumps-future-behaviour/847215/38 "2020-02-01T18:08:32Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > …and ended up somehow hosting the most popular show on TV, based on him being a success and then being elected President of the US. Different skills. Different causes. ---
**Author:** ![Oly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oly/32/8255_2.png) [@Oly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oly)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2020, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-would-an-acquittal-have-on-trumps-future-behaviour/847215/39 "2020-02-01T18:30:53Z")
Anyone who thinks less likely or no change, where have you been? Trump is a destroyer. He has done, is doing, and will do \*anything \*he thinks he can get away with, and even some things he might not be sure he can get away with. He will see this acquittal as a big bright green light leading onto the highway of Whatever The Hell I Want To Do. The perverted Dershowitz “Doctrine” has turbocharged the Trump-mobile and it’s peddle to the metal time. As he flies past the Republican highway patrol, who will be, as they have been heretofore, stuffing their faces in the donut shops, kicking around a little kid who’s just asking for directions, or cowering under their cruisers, what will be going through Trump’s head? Maybe something like “What are they going to do? _Impeach_ me?!” I know it’s been said before, but it always sounded a bit hyperbolic and histrionic. This time, however, we really have taken a hard right turn towards fascism. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2020, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-would-an-acquittal-have-on-trumps-future-behaviour/847215/40 "2020-02-01T22:25:09Z")
> [@Oly](#): > > He has done, is doing, and will do \*anything \*he thinks he can get away with, and even some things he might not be sure he can get away with. Exactly. That’s why I voted “no change”—he is already doing what he can. A more compentent villain with Trump’s power, in other words the next Republican president, will be awesome (in the sense of “inspiring profound dread,” not in the sense of “good”). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-would-an-acquittal-have-on-trumps-future-behaviour/847215.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-effect-would-an-acquittal-have-on-trumps-future-behaviour/847215.md?page=3)