President Donald Trump enters the last days of his presidency isolated and shunned by former allies and members of his own party as he faces a second impeachment and growing calls for his resignation after his supporters launched an assault on the nation’s Capitol in an effort to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power.
Cut off from the social media channels that have been the lifeblood of his presidency, Trump will nonetheless try to go on offense in his last 10 days, with no plans of resigning.
Instead, Trump is planning to lash out against the companies that have now denied him his Twitter and Facebook bullhorns. And aides hope he will spend his last days trying to trumpet his policy accomplishments, beginning with a trip to Alamo, Texas, on Tuesday to highlight his administration’s efforts to curb illegal immigration and border wall construction.
Trump had delivered a speech to his supporters in which he repeatedly said the election was being stolen and urged them to “fight” before they rushed the Capitol as lawmakers were in the process of certifying Biden’s wins. The violent crowd forced its way inside, ransacked the building and sent terrified staff and lawmakers, including the vice president, into hiding. Five, including a Capitol police officer, died.
While people close to Trump said they would certainly prefer he not become the only president in the nation’s history to be impeached a second time, Jason Miller, a close adviser, noted that Trump’s popularity rose after his first impeachment trial. And he argued that, if they moved forward, Democrats risk turning public sentiment against them and impeding Biden’s agenda by continuing to focus on Trump even after he has left the White House.