Will Trump Resign?

The day after President Donald Trump fired his FBI Director James Comey, on May 10, 2017–only four months into Donald Trump’s presidency–I blogged (“The Black House Is Turning Me into a Democrat“) concerning the FBI investigation into Trump possibly colluding with the Russians to win the presidency, “If this story has legs, Congress could tell Mr. Donald Trump, ‘You’re fired’ [meaning impeach him]. But there is another alternative. I’m going to make a prediction: Donald Trump will resign the U.S. presidency within a year. In doing so, I think he could throw up a smokescreen, giving as the sole reason for his departure that the federal government is treating his financial empire unfairly. That is another investigation that has just begun.

“Trump refusing to reveal his tax returns is another issue that makes him suspicious of something he does not want America to know. But if he resigns, that may not be the end of Trump’s problems with the U.S. government. If it proves Mr. Trump himself, not just his people, colluded with Russians to win the presidency, the government for the people, of the people, and by the people may be yelling, ‘lock him up.'”

One month later I concluded in a post (“Evangelicals Are Foolish to Support Trump“), “As I said in a recent post, I think The Donald will bite his lip and give up, resigning the presidency within a year from now. But I admit that I could be wrong–it could 2 years.” That, of course, means I was saying Trump would resign by May 10, 2019.

I also posted one year later, on 5/9/18 (“I Was Wrong–Trump Hasn’t Resigned“), “I think Trump could get into so much trouble regarding Mueller’s investigation into Russian collusion, and it could implicate Trump financially a lot, that Trump could still resign by May 10, 2019. If he accomplishes the main things he campaigned about, that would make it even more likely. . . . If he gets Congress to go along with getting this wall substantially started, he would have accomplished his goals. The wall might be the deciding factor that will make him take up his ex’s [Ivana] advice–fogettaboutit, all this being president stuff, and just go play golf.”

Democrats won the mid-term election last November for the House of Representatives in a landslide victory. Although Republicans actually increased their narrow majority margin in the Senate to 54 seats, the Democrats’ huge House win meant that America generally is fed up with Trump’s presidency. As of late, his approval rating has been hovering at about 40% favorable. As Democrats resumed office this week, some House reps. are calling for Trump’s impeachment. Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is cautioning for patience. Multiple House committees are now headed up by Democrats. They have vowed to leave no stone unturned in their pursuit to find Trump and/or his team guilty of wrongdoing if so be it. Trump is in trouble, but he is especially vulnerable to FBI special counsel Mueller’s Russian probe. I think Trump’s constant attack on Mueller’s work, calling it “a witch hunt” and a “hoax,” suggests Trump is guilty of collusion. If he was innocent, he wouldn’t be doing that, unless he’s just afraid of what they may find out about his financial empire. Mueller is expected to provide his report to Congress next month.

Some politicians and former politicians are now saying Trump will resign. Today’s Newsweek online has an article by Tim Marcin entitled, “Donald Trump Will Resign the Presidency in 2019 in Exchange for Immunity for Him and His Family, Former Bush Adviser Says.” Marcin reports, “Alan J. Steinberg–who served as an adviser to former President George W. Bush–wrote in an opinion piece published this week that he didn’t believe President Donald Trump would be removed from office through impeachment. . . . Steinberg, . . . said that he believed Trump would resign in 2019 in exchange for immunity.”

Marcin says Steinberg further says in this op-ed, “Trump will not be removed from office by constitutional impeachment and removal process. Instead, the self-professed supreme dealmaker will use his presidency as a bargaining chip with federal and state authorities in 2019, agreeing to leave office in exchange for the relevant authorities not pursuing criminal charges against him, his children or the Trump Organization.” Steinberg also doesn’t think such impeachment could pass the Senate.

Marcin further writes, “Steinberg is far from the only person who believes Trump will be out of office before his first term is up.

“Former Republican Representative John LeBoutillier wrote that it seemed increasingly clear that Trump’s presidency was going fully off the rails.”

Steinberg relates that LeBoutillier predicts, “Donald J. Trump’s presidency will not survive 2019; . . . The downward trajectory of every aspect of his tenure indicates we are headed for a spectacular political crash-and-burn–and fairly soon. His increasingly erratic and angry behavior, his self-imposed isolation, his inability and refusal to listen to smart advisers that he hired, all are leading him to a precipice.”

As Donald Trump likes to say about some particular thing about the future, “We’ll see what happens.” Duh–yeah.