President Donald Trump has repeatedly tried to act beyond the limits of the law and his responsibilities to the U.S. Constitution. Federal courts have ruled against his attempts to control elections at least 34 times, including eight rulings from judges he appointed. If Republicans lose control of the House, or both chambers, Americans should be prepared for him to take desperate, or possibly lawless action right after the November 3 midterm elections.
“National security officials have been secretly bracing for the possibility that Donald Trump refuses to accept the midterm election results,” The Daily Beast reported.
“A small group of U.S. national security officials has been discreetly advising state governments and congressional lawmakers on how to prepare for the possibility that the Trump administration will attempt to interfere in November’s midterm elections,” The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.
Here are five desperate actions Trump could conceivably take.
Bomb Iran
News reports for weeks, and as recently as Wednesday, state there are plans for Trump to restart bombing Iran after the midterms.
“President Trump has rejected Iran’s proposal for a seven-day ceasefire and told aides he expects to resume bombing Iran after the midterm elections,” The Wall Street Journal reported last month.
“The US military has developed new strike plans that include potentially using the so-called ‘mother of all bombs’ to target Iranian energy infrastructure and nuclear sites should President Donald Trump give the order to resume combat operations either before or after the midterm elections,” CNN reported one week ago, citing multiple U.S. officials.
“The U.S. and Israeli militaries have developed specific plans for renewed strikes against Iran after the American midterm elections,” The New York Times, citing U.S. officials, reported on Wednesday.
Pin the Blame on Scapegoats
The White House is reportedly already bracing for what polls suggest could be a massive blue wave. If Republicans suffer extensive losses, people close to Trump told CNN, he is certain to find someone to blame, and it won’t be him.
“Trump administration officials are bracing for a White House purge should Donald Trump take a beating in the Nov. 3 midterm elections,” The Daily Beast reported on Wednesday. “With just 13 days to go, officials told CNN that the Republicans are preparing for a potentially disastrous result that sees them lose control of both the House and Senate. Some are convinced that the president would then fire key aides in a massive shakeup of his Cabinet as he looks to shift the blame.”
Reports suggest White House chief of staff Susie Wiles has drawn scrutiny, following a Politico report Trump had sounded out allies about replacing her. Trump said there was “zero chance” he would.
“Some are preparing for widespread dismissals within the administration after Election Day,” The Daily Beast noted.
“If we lose both the House and the Senate, there’s really no telling what happens,” one Trump adviser told CNN. “Everyone is fair game.”
Seize Voting Machines and Ballots, Declare Martial Law
Trump has not announced plans for either step. But he has mused about the first. In January, he told The New York Times he regretted not directing the National Guard to seize voting machines after the 2020 election.
“Well, I should have,” Trump said.
Meanwhile, Axios reported last week that “MAGA activists are pushing for President Trump to resort to extraordinary measures — including martial law — if they believe the midterm elections are ‘rigged.’”
“Some of the proposals go far beyond Trump’s legal authority — and there’s no evidence that the elections will be rigged. But people in this orbit have close access to the president.”
One of those people is attorney Peter Ticktin, Trump’s childhood friend. On a Sept. 30 video call for MAGA election activists, Ticktin said “there would have to be martial law in the event... [of] another rigged election.” He later told Axios, “They’ll probably need to be commandeering of ballots and election equipment to make sure that we can get to the bottom of it before anything further occurs.”
Ticktin represents Tina Peters, the election activist convicted in 2024 of crimes tied to a breach of election equipment. Peters left prison this year after Colorado Democratic Gov. Jared Polis commuted her sentence. Peters and Ticktin visited Trump at the White House in late June, and Peters met with Trump again this month.
“Emergency powers do not allow Trump to override state election laws or constitutional restrictions,” Axios reported, summing up the analysis of Derek Tisler, counsel for the Brennan Center’s elections and government program. “Martial law would not give Trump authority to seize control of election materials or override federal and state election laws.”
The White House told Axios that Trump believes “every legal vote must count.”
On Tuesday, the Brennan Center for Justice noted, “Since taking office, the Trump administration has tried to meddle in the voting and elections process in unprecedented ways, such as trying to change rules for mail voting and voter registration. Individuals and groups, as well as state and local governments, have filed dozens of federal lawsuits challenging these actions.”
Push Through More MAGA Judges
Trump has appointed fewer judges at this point in his second term than he did in his first, but he might decide to ramp up the nominations process before January should the Senate go blue.
“Trump’s pace of judicial appointments trails that of most other recent presidents, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of data from the Federal Judicial Center,” Pew noted. “The analysis comes ahead of midterm elections that will decide control of the U.S. Senate. If Democrats take control of the chamber from Republicans in November, they could further slow Trump’s judicial appointments.”
Flood the Zone With Preemptive Pardons — Including for Trump Himself
During his first term, Trump tweeted, “As has been stated by numerous legal scholars, I have the absolute right to PARDON myself, but why would I do that when I have done nothing wrong?”
Last week he doubled down.
Asked by Newsmax whether he was seriously considering a self-pardon, Trump said, “I don’t think about it because I did nothing wrong.” Then he added, “I’m allowed to do a pardon, a self-pardon.”
He extended the idea to his staff. “I don’t want to see people that work for me go through years of nonsense, hire lawyers and everything else, all for nothing,” Trump said.
Trump might take action on any or even all of these extreme measures after November 3. And unlike in his first term, there’s no one left in the Oval Office to stop him.
If you like this article, please restack and share with your friends.
New here? Post in the comments and tell me how you found The Harbinger.
As much as I hate to say this, there is a sixth measure: trump orders his merry band of terrorists to attack the Capitol on January 3rd.
trump pardoned all of these individuals, and several of them are still loyal to him, and I suspect that trump gave them their warning orders, by way of mentioning the 1.776 billion-dollar fund for these people; never mind the fact that blanche said that it will not go forward, as he did NOT put it in writing.
Another warning order was trump's speech in Nebraska, when he mentioned that 'Iran' could take out Los Angeles and San Diego; though Iran has no nuclear weapon, there are some Iranian sleeper cells that could attack citizens and even troops in these cities, and there could be MAGA Mafia lackeys who may disguise themselves as Iranians, or whatever ethnic groups that trump hates, and commit acts of terror.
I may be letting my imagination run here, but after seeing what trump and his MAGA Mafia have been doing over these past 10+ years, do we dare to ignore these possibilities? We have underestimated trump for too long; it is time for the American people to get ahead in this situation, or everything we hold dear will be destroyed.
…he will do what any dictator would do - deny the truth and go to war, not methodically, real fucking war, he will not leave power on his own
…fascism is not an ideology it’s the way to take and hold power once you install dictator peacefully you can not peacefully remove him - FACT
…regime is systemic lawlessness and corruption propped by ruthless oppression of any dissent or opposition, blood will be on the streets of our cities, dictator doesn’t give a shit how many will die, he will deploy EVERYTHING to stay in power
…trump never was a businessman he always was a small time crook free off the law and wasn’t really trying to hide it and then america elected him as a king of the most powerful country, in his mind as narcissist it’s finally time to be a top gangster, with half of the country supporting his regime and ready to kill the other half does anyone think elections can remove him…?
…seriously?
…”It’s not limited to so-called policy. Something’s wrong with the water, sewage, garbage collection, a pothole. Your child is being bullied at school or the police ignored violence to family or friends. KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT. Complain, and the so-called public official would likely have his hand out. You’d feel lucky if all he wanted was money, not your wife, son or daughter. Life under dictatorship can be hell – not figurative hell but hell on earth.”
https://www.wamc.org/commentary-opinion/2023-12-12/dictatorship-isnt-pretty?_amp=true