First time posting in this forum 
so mods if this hypothetical belongs elsewhere…
Say if in '28 Trump tries the “but what if I don’t?” approach to conceding office, but then, eventually, he accepts the reality, and completely abandoned by MAGA (yeah, I know, I know), where on this fair planet could he possibly abscond to?
Setting aside the argument of quite possibly facing criminal proceedings, or hanging around to fire up “Apprentice II”, does he even have any viable destinations?
Defeat how? You mean his candidates lose? He cant run again.
He’d go and do Conservative talk radio and do speeches. Golf.
Trump is not eligible to run for 2028.
There is always Argentina, the current leader ( Javier Milei) likes him, besides the obvious joke.
All the while ranting about how he got screwed by…a bunch of bad people. He’ll get a few books ghost written.
I suspect that Trump is not physically or mentally up to going anywhere. They’ll build an oval shaped office at Mar-A-Lago and let him sign executive orders all day that will be promptly round-filed.
Kind of like how his father went.
Didn’t he already confiscate the Resolute Desk and take it to M-A-L?
I hadn’t heard that. Did he really?
Darn - I guess too late to modify my OP to - what if he tries the “but what if I don’t?” approach to conceding office, but then, eventually, he accepts the reality.
You still have at least 7 minutes to edit it.
Yep.
Nope, just put away for refinishing. Not all Presidents use that desk anyway.
Heh, just now did.
Thanks.
The same place he’ll go if he doesn’t accept electoral defeat, because in January 20th, 2029, he won’t be president anymore.
If a Democrat is elected, and Trump has the health to travel, I think he’ll flee to Saudi Arabia. IIRC that’s where Idi Amin went. The Saudis will gladly let him live out his years in comfort, without extradition, as a signal to future leaders that they will be taken care of if they help the Saudi rulers.
I’d predict that the giant toddler wouldn’t be really all that more useful to them once he’s out of power, and would be indifferent, at best, at taking him in.
He won’t have to accept electoral defeat. He’s not eligible to run, and the only reason he endorses down-ticket candidates is because they’re the folks that will serve him well. Hence, he won’t bother endorsing anybody in 2028 because they’ll have nothing to offer the post-presidential Diaper Don. In fact, I don’t expect there will be many that seek his endorsement in 2028 other than the fringiest of the MAGA fringe. Rather, I think he’ll pull a Howard Hughes, and lock himself away at MAL. I don’t see his ego allowing him to fade into the background with dignity, so he’ll wall himself away. He’ll spend the last of his days eating Big Macs and buckets of KFC while swilling Diet Coke by the barrel, probably hardly getting out of bed other than to have his diaper changed now and then, with his own feces smeared on the bedspread, headboard, and wall. And all over himself, which will keep him brownish orange until the end.
He doesn’t have to go anywhere. He will pardon himself and all his fellow criminals. Then he’ll go about his usual business of scamming anyone he can and playing golf, never spending a single day in jail.
It’s not about being useful, it’s about showing current and future corrupt leaders that there’s a tangible benefit, and future personal security, to favoring the Saudis, diplomatically or financially or whatever. It’s telling leaders around the world “do right by us when you’re in power, and we’ll take you in, with comfort and style, if you ever need a place to go”.
Oh, I can perfectly imagine him exchanging NOT monkeywrenching the election for assurances of amnesties and continued persecution of opponents and of funds being directed to activities that profit him.
I think a non-zero chance that he’d pick Russia, rather than the Saudis, presuming a Democratic win. In the scenario I’d imagine, he’d try to throw the election into question in the courts, with endless litigation and (sigh) his fourth set of election unfairness. Lots of support by (R) too scared to defy him, and the government in limbo despite the clear language of the Constitution.
Eventually though (not fighting the hypothetical) he realizes he’s cornered, and offers a deal with Putin for a “true” government in exile, which would have all sorts of propaganda victories for Russia. If he went the Saudis with his attitude, he’d likely be an unpleasant liability very quickly as they try to normalize relations with the new Democratic leadership.
Again, NOT fighting the hypothetical where he flees.