Hi Shachar,

You made a lot of points and raised a lot of questions. Assuming you are asking in good faith, I’ll respond in good faith.

1. OK, I see your point that, when a politician concedes an election, there’s a difference between admitting that one’s rival won the election (definitely, fair and square, no questions asked) and raising questions about accuracy and fairness.

2. I also see your point that, when Democrats refer to Russian interference in the 2016 election, they may intend to imply that Trump’s presidency is illegitimate.

3. Trump expresses annoyance and casts aspersions on the rival party all the time: at rallies, on TV, in thousands of tweets since taking office. He does this over trivial matters like opinion polls, so he will certainly make comments about the actual election results. (Bringing up anything about Hillary right here is N/A. I’m not talking about her or comparing her to Trump. She’s not president. I’m talking about Trump who is president.)

4. No, I don’t believe it’s likely that Trump will be removed from office via impeachment or 25th amendment. I agree with you that it is unlikely. (But still within the realm of possibility.) What I said was: Any president needs to have the respect for the democratic process so that, when it comes time for them to leave office for whatever legal reason, even if they don’t like the circumstances, they have to go peacefully. I do not believe Trump has that respect for process.

5. Of course I realize that “the presidency” is not the same as “entertainment,” and that “being in business is more complex than an episode of The Apprentice.” This comment of yours does not remotely track to anything I said. It is offensive and irritating to me and I almost did not bother responding to you because of it. It was not conducive to dialogue. But I will try to respond.

Trump behaves as if he’s running a reality show rather than leading the country.

Trump also behaves as if he’s running a business rather than acting as a public servant. It does not matter if he made some concessions, closed some businesses, and had some losses. He should not be running any businesses or have any business interests while in office. He’s making money off the presidency, directly and indirectly. His own resort is being considered to host the G-7. This is naked corruption.

I am capable of seeing the distinction between being a celebrity businessman and being president. Trump deliberately blurs that distinction. There is no need to project his ambiguity onto me and thereby suggest that I lack understanding. He is mixing roles that oughtn’t be mixed. My opinion on this doesn’t imply that I can’t tell the difference between these roles; it implies quite the opposite.

I don’t know why you’re asking me if I “actually think everything went his way 100% of the time.” I never said anything like that, and it’s irrelevant to the question of whether he’ll leave office without a fight.

6. You asked for Trump’s possible motives for clinging to office, given that “he has businesses and money to go back to” and that fighting to stay in office past his determined time would “immediately put him at odds with every conservative.” You also asked for evidence that he is likely to do this. I want to point out that these are two different things.

First, his possible motive: Yes, I agree with you that he might be happy to abandon politics and return to his former life as a celebrity businessman. However, as you pointed out, he closed some of his businesses; and, as I pointed out, some of his remaining businesses are intertwined with his presidency. No one knows exactly what his finances are because he doesn’t reveal that information. It is therefore hard to know how his financial position will change when his presidency ends and what his future financial motives might be.

Additionally: Certainly you can see that your phrase “every conservative” is an overreach. By “conservatives,” we’re talking about a hundred million Americans? The word every won’t fly. Some of them (even if a tiny minority) would be happy if Trump tried to cling to office. That’s why he jokes about it. He’s playing to some crowd. If all conservatives were offended by the idea of him staying in office indefinitely, he wouldn’t use that joke. Someone obviously likes the idea, and he’s playing to them. Who are those people? Self-styled “militia” enthusiasts? White nationalists? Both? That’s important to know.

I would also point out that, while it’s been made clear that a sitting president cannot be indicted, Trump may face criminal charges as soon as he leaves office. That’s a big motive for him to hold on to the presidency as long as possible. It’s the clearest path for him to stay out of jail. That’s a possible motive.

Second, as you asked for evidence that he is likely to try an illegitimate power grab: I’m not sure what evidence would be predictive of future behavior. If neither of us know what would be considered strong evidence, then I guess I don’t have it. All I can point to is Trump’s history of authoritarian statements and behavior. In general, he does not respect the cultural norms of American democracy nor the institutional rules. He openly admires and courts foreign dictators while insulting allies in democratic countries. Clinging to power beyond the legal end of his presidency would be consistent with his authoritarian personality and tactics. It would be consistent with what he “jokes” about. When he makes these comments, I think it is prudent to take him at his word.