Are the worst days of the Trump presidency still ahead?
Trump and martial law: Can it get worse? Yes.


American troops probably won't take to the streets over the next few weeks to keep President Donald Trump in the White House — but not necessarily because Trump doesn't want them to. The New York Times over the weekend reported that the president had "asked about" deploying the military to impose martial law and re-do the presidential election — already fairly won by Joe Biden, the Democrat — to obtain a better result for Trump. The idea was rejected by some of his top aides, the Army wants no part of it, and Trump himself denied the discussion had occurred.
Still, the report raised the possibility that we still haven't seen the worst days of this presidency.
That would be unusual. Just one month remains before Biden's inauguration. This is the stage after the election when the outgoing executive is usually dreaming of vacation, book deals, and presidential libraries. But Trump is a different case. He continues to scheme fruitlessly to hold onto his job, no matter the cost to the country, and all the worst people have his ear.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Which means there is still plenty of time for this president to do more damage to the country.
The idea for martial law reportedly came from Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, Trump's recently pardoned former national security advisor and, more recently, a QAnon conspiracy enthusiast. According to the Times, Trump also entertained the idea of appointing Sidney Powell — purveyor of some of Trumpland's more bizarre conspiracy theories — as a special counsel to investigate her false allegations of election fraud. And Rudy Giuliani reportedly wants the Department of Homeland Security to seize swing-state voting machines. Taken together, the proposals alarmed the remaining Trump advisors who still have a foot planted in reality.
"I've been covering Donald Trump for a while. I can't recall hearing more intense concern from senior officials who are actually Trump people," Axios' Jonathan Swan tweeted on Saturday. "The Sidney Powell / Michael Flynn ideas are finding an enthusiastic audience at the top."
All this takes place while the COVID-19 pandemic grows ever deadlier. More than 18,000 people have died of the coronavirus within the last week. That's horrific — and will only get more so — but the president seems completely uninterested in the carnage.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
"I think he's just done with COVID," one of his advisers told The Washington Post. The problem, of course, is that COVID isn't done with us.
Trump, in other words, is doing little to ameliorate the deadly problem we do have, while expending his energy and passions on a doomed effort to overturn the expressed will of the voters. The combination of willful impotence and Ahab-like obsession would usually be pathetic. For the next few weeks, though — and this is the important part — Trump remains one of the most powerful human beings on the planet.
The problem is compounded by the way bad ideas and bad people tend to enter and remain in Trump's orbit. The president once fired Flynn because Flynn lied to Vice President Mike Pence about his contact with the Russians; now Flynn is advising Trump how to steal the election. Just a few weeks ago, Trump's campaign distanced itself from Powell after her election theories proved embarrassingly outlandish. Now Trump proposes giving her federal prosecutorial powers. (She was back in the White House on Sunday night, continuing to pitch investigations.) The specter of martial law has been raised and rejected, but this tendency means it wouldn't be a surprise if we hear about it again within the next few days.
There isn't much, if anything, that can be done about this situation. A #25thAmendment hashtag trended Sunday on Twitter, but it is impossible to imagine Pence and Trump's collection of acting cabinet secretaries being audacious enough to functionally depose their boss. Another impeachment isn't going to happen, and Republicans in the Senate wouldn't convict, anyway. The best bet, for now, might be to try to ride out the crisis of Trump's last weeks, then work for reform after he has left Washington.
For now, though, thousands of our fellow citizens are dying every day while the president rejects the plain obligations of democracy. The United States at the end of 2020 is in terrible shape, perhaps the worst in living memory. Under President Trump, though, things can always get worse.
Joel Mathis is a writer with 30 years of newspaper and online journalism experience. His work also regularly appears in National Geographic and The Kansas City Star. His awards include best online commentary at the Online News Association and (twice) at the City and Regional Magazine Association.
-
Taking the low road: why the SNP is still standing strong
Talking Point Party is on track for a fifth consecutive victory in May’s Holyrood election, despite controversies and plummeting support
-
Has the Gaza deal saved Netanyahu?
Today's Big Question With elections looming, Israel’s longest serving PM will ‘try to carry out political alchemy, converting the deal into political gold’
-
French finances: what’s behind country’s debt problem?
The Explainer Political paralysis has led to higher borrowing costs and blocked urgent deficit-reducing reforms to social protection
-
Has the Gaza deal saved Netanyahu?
Today's Big Question With elections looming, Israel’s longest serving PM will ‘try to carry out political alchemy, converting the deal into political gold’
-
Trump’s deportations are changing how we think about food
IN THE SPOTLIGHT The Department of Labor’s admission that immigration raids have affected America’s food supplies reopens a longstanding debate
-
Judge blocks Trump’s Guard deployment in Chicago
Speed Read The president is temporarily blocked from federalizing the Illinois National Guard or deploying any Guard units in the state
-
Gaza peace deal: why did Trump succeed where Biden failed?
Today's Big Question As the first stage of a ceasefire begins, Trump’s unique ‘just-get-it-done’ attitude may have proven pivotal to negotiations
-
The party bringing Trump-style populism to Japan
Under The Radar Far-right party is ‘shattering’ the belief that Japan is ‘immune’ to populism’
-
Can Trump bully Netanyahu into Gaza peace?
Today's Big Question The Israeli leader was ‘strong-armed’ into new peace deal
-
Court allows Trump’s Texas troops to head to Chicago
Speed Read Trump is ‘using our service members as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation’s cities,’ said Gov. J.B. Pritzker
-
The GOP: Merging flag and cross
Feature Donald Trump has launched a task force to pursue “anti-Christian policies”