Enough with the “Donald Trump will never resign” schtick
Despite the historically chaotic current political climate, some things in political journalism are as consistent as the sunrise. If I publish an article that even so much as mentions the possibility or scenario that Donald Trump might end up resigning, for instance this one in which Trump is now telling his pals that he wants to resign, that article is immediately hit with a torrent of people insisting that Trump will never resign. And startlingly, that schtick is not coming from his supporters.
There is a certain segment of the anti-Trump resistance that’s absolutely convinced Donald Trump will never resign under any circumstances. They’re so sure of it, they feel compelled to shout it at any article or social media post that even so much as mentions the possibility of resignation. It’s always in the form of “Trump is too much of a ____ to resign,” with one random phrase or another filling the blank on any given day. And it’s the most bizarre sentiment, because it goes against everything we know about Donald Trump.
Trump always quits when he realizes he’s going to lose. He kills off his own hotels when he sees their revenue is dropping off. He files bankruptcy on his companies when he sees they’re not going to succeed. He pulls the plug on everything that isn’t working out for him, and then he invents some reason why his loss was a victory. Atlantic City is seeing hard times? He brags that his two casinos there went under before the hard times hit. That kind of upside-down rationalizing doesn’t convince anyone else, but it seems to convince him that he somehow won by losing and quitting.
So while there’s no way to predict how Donald Trump will choose to end his failed presidency, every inch of his own history says he’s likely to resign if he reaches a point where he concludes he can’t turn it around and succeed. Maybe he’ll reach that point, maybe he won’t. I’m not saying he’ll resign. But when certain anti-Trump folks loudly and forcefully and repeatedly insist they know for certain that he’ll never resign under any circumstances, it’s just odd. Is it mere pessimism on their part, or are they subconsciously hoping he’ll remain in office and get humiliatingly impeached the hard way?
