# Where would Trump go if he accepted electoral defeat? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [May 4, 2026, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-trump-go-if-he-accepted-electoral-defeat/1029767 "2026-05-04T00:07:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-trump-go-if-he-accepted-electoral-defeat/1029767/61 "2026-05-05T05:00:22Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Why would he go anywhere but mar a largo? Yeah, that’s my feeling too. He likes the place, its golf course is nearby, all the gold-colored crap he decorates with is there, and it is easy for the Secret Service to secure. No guarantees of any or all of those any place else. ---
**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:** [May 5, 2026, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-trump-go-if-he-accepted-electoral-defeat/1029767/62 "2026-05-05T06:28:50Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > It would bust my schadenfreude needle if JD took the gig then didn’t follow through. “OK, your turn to pardon me now.” “America’s Hitler says what?” ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-trump-go-if-he-accepted-electoral-defeat/1029767/63 "2026-05-05T08:53:39Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > Trump would not flee the country > > Also, he would be socially isolated. Trump would never move anywhere without a white English-speaking population. He’ll live in Mar a Lago, and appear regularly on Fox, declaring himself the true rightful leader.He will issue Executive Orders on Twitter, and believe that they are legally binding. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-trump-go-if-he-accepted-electoral-defeat/1029767/64 "2026-05-05T14:23:04Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > It would bust my schadenfreude needle if JD took the gig then didn’t follow through Totally. if this were to happen, for the mental well being of all America he should record a video of him refusing Trump and post it on the Internet. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-trump-go-if-he-accepted-electoral-defeat/1029767/65 "2026-05-05T14:24:40Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > “And here we have an example of the Greater Orange Narcissist in its natural habitat of a gilded office. Please do not approach as it tends to throw poo at people.” I know the symbolic value and all. But I can’t help but feel if we get to keep the panda and they get to have Trump, we have come out of this better off 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-trump-go-if-he-accepted-electoral-defeat/1029767/66 "2026-05-05T15:28:42Z")
There are the NY state convictions that are on hold, and chances are that other states may bring charges against him. The President can issue pardons for the commission of Federal crimes but not for violations of state laws. And per Article IV, Section 2 of the Constitution, if he’s merely charged in one state, let alone convicted, he can’t flee within the U.S.; the state to which he fled must turn him over to the state that charged him. So he’d really have to go to another country to be safe from the threat of prison. I expect his telephone buddy Vlad would take him in. Maybe he and Edward Snowden can share an apartment in Moscow. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-trump-go-if-he-accepted-electoral-defeat/1029767/67 "2026-05-05T15:31:34Z")
I don’t think he’ll be extradited from Florida to serve time in NYC. Yes, if it were you or me, that’s what would happen. But i just don’t think that’s going to be an issue. Also, he’s in terrible shape mentally. It will probably get worse in the next couple of years. I think his handlers will be able to make a solid case that he’s not fit to stand trial. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2026, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-trump-go-if-he-accepted-electoral-defeat/1029767/68 "2026-05-05T15:56:15Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > . I think his handlers will be able to make a solid case that he’s not fit to stand trial Yeah I think this is the main reason he won’t face justice if the GOP loses in 2028. Come 2029 he will probably be dead, dying or all but brain dead (even in comparison to his current [squirrel obsessed](https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-79-bizarrely-boasts-he-can-correctly-identify-a-squirrel/) decrepitude). If he’s alive, vaguely healthy, and unpardoned he’s going to get prosecuted but there is no way they are wheeling a dribbling non-ambulatory dementia patient into court unfortunately ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2026, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-trump-go-if-he-accepted-electoral-defeat/1029767/69 "2026-05-10T16:14:01Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I don’t think he’ll be extradited from Florida to serve time in NYC. Yes, if it were you or me, that’s what would happen. But i just don’t think that’s going to be an issue. The state a fugitive has fled to is **required** by the Constitution to hand the fugitive over to the state he fled from. Refusing is not an option under our Constitution. So what would happen next if, say, Florida refused to extradite Trump to New York? I would assume that first, NY would take FL to court (directly to SCOTUS, they’d have original jurisdiction). The real questions are: what would happen next if (a) SCOTUS ruled in favor of NY, and FL still refused to hand him over? or (b) SCOTUS ruled in favor of FL? In case (a), ISTM that the state of Florida would effectively be in a state of rebellion against the U.S. Presumably the Federal government (I’m assuming this is 2029, and a Dem has won the Presidency) could formally recognize Florida as having rebelled, and as such, could do things like cut off the flow of all Federal monies to Florida and its residents, and send the troops in to capture Trump. Also, Congress could vote to reduce Florida to territorial status until further notice. (So much for your gerrymander, Ron. 🙂 ) ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2026, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-trump-go-if-he-accepted-electoral-defeat/1029767/70 "2026-05-10T16:19:56Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > There are the NY state convictions that are on hold, and chances are that other states may bring charges against him. Which NYS convictions are on hold? He was already sentenced to an unconditional discharge on the 34 counts of falsifying business records in the hush money case. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2026, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-trump-go-if-he-accepted-electoral-defeat/1029767/71 "2026-05-10T16:21:46Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > Which NYS convictions are on hold? He was already sentenced to an unconditional discharge on the 34 counts of falsifying business records in the hush money case. OK, I thought those had just been put on hold for the duration of his Presidency. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2026, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-trump-go-if-he-accepted-electoral-defeat/1029767/72 "2026-05-10T17:01:15Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > So what would happen next if, say, Florida refused to extradite Trump to New York? I would assume that first, NY would take FL to court You are assuming new York would insist on the extradition. I think that’s unlikely. ---
**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:** [July 3, 2026, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-trump-go-if-he-accepted-electoral-defeat/1029767/73 "2026-07-03T20:15:45Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > You are assuming new York would insist on the extradition. I think that’s unlikely. You don’t think the new governor Mamdani will try? ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2026, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-trump-go-if-he-accepted-electoral-defeat/1029767/74 "2026-07-03T21:37:48Z")
Mamdani is not the governor (and most likely never will be). He’s the mayor of NYC. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2026, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-trump-go-if-he-accepted-electoral-defeat/1029767/75 "2026-07-04T03:09:35Z")
And no, i don’t think he would. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2026, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-trump-go-if-he-accepted-electoral-defeat/1029767/76 "2026-07-04T09:52:16Z")
He’s 80 years old. By the time he leaves office he’ll be 82, and by the time the wheels of justice finish grinding he’ll be 85 at least. Nobody is going to throw a senile 85-year-old (rich white) man into jail. At best, he’ll waste away in house arrest at MAL. I don’t see him running. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2026, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-trump-go-if-he-accepted-electoral-defeat/1029767/77 "2026-07-04T12:57:03Z")
I like to think of Trumpy fleeing like Kaiser Wilhelm after he was deposed, turning up at a rich supporter’s estate and grudgingly being allowed shelter, then [given asylum in a foreign land](https://www.the-low-countries.com/article/kaiser-turned-woodcutter-hundred-years-ago-the-last-german-emperor-moved-into-a-dutch-country-house/) (donated use of a dacha by Putin?). But he’ll just hole up in a gold-plated luxury home at Mar-A-Lago (or his gold-embellished ex-Presidential library) surrounded by gold objects, sycophantic servants and the occasional groveling visitor, feebly being escorted around the golf course, ranting every more incoherently on Truth Social, until his sundowning self gradually subsides into a dull mutter. And oh yeah, he might well ditch Melania for a younger babe (Harp?) who will attend his 🤮 needs. > [@](#): > > This second marriage (of Kaiser Wilhelm II), to an overbearing intrigant who was almost thirty years younger than him, was not a popular one. The similarities between Trump and the Kaiser keep impressing themselves on students of history. > [@](#): > > …the Kaiser, methodically, obsessively, needlessly, turned thousands of trees into stumps ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2026, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-trump-go-if-he-accepted-electoral-defeat/1029767/78 "2026-07-04T15:07:40Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > …the Kaiser, methodically, obsessively, needlessly, turned thousands of trees into stumps And why did he do this? Simply because he was frustrated at being deposed. Wow. ---
**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:** [July 5, 2026, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-trump-go-if-he-accepted-electoral-defeat/1029767/79 "2026-07-05T00:54:43Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > Mamdani is not the governor (and most likely never will be). He’s the mayor of NYC. I am perfectly aware of that but he could try for governor. I regard that as likelier than Trump accepting electoral defeat. I read that he (Patel, actually) has assigned 260 FBI agents to “finding” 11,000 more votes for Trump in Georgia. Or more likely, removing that many “illegal” voters in Atlanta. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2026, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-trump-go-if-he-accepted-electoral-defeat/1029767/80 "2026-07-29T20:09:19Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > It is doubtful if someone can pardon themselves. Why not? Unlike most of his other misdeeds, that’s one power he actually, unequivocally has, explicitly granted by the Constitution. As he found out last time though, Presidential pardons do not get one out of hot water for any State crimes. I do hate the idea that he’ll only ever _potentially_ see justice as a decrepit old man who already got away with his crimes, and achieved everything he ever wanted in life. Even then it’s unlikely, I fear. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-trump-go-if-he-accepted-electoral-defeat/1029767.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-would-trump-go-if-he-accepted-electoral-defeat/1029767.md?page=5)