In the immediate aftermath of President-elect Joe Biden's victory in November, the leaders of President Trump's re-election campaign told him he had about a 5 to 10 percent chance of picking up enough outstanding votes in Georgia and Arizona and win a legal challenge against election practices in Wisconsin, which would overturn the results, Axios' Jonathan Swan reports in part of his series on the final two months of Trump's presidency.
Trump initially told his campaign aides — including campaign manager Bill Stepien, senior adviser Jason Miller, and deputy campaign manager Justin Clark — that it was worth a shot, but he was simultaneously listening to another plan presented by attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell that was steeped in conspiracy theories.
The campaign team's plan might not have had much going for it in the long run, but they believed, per Axios, that "a serious search for a path to 270 electoral votes through credible legal challenges" was under way. That illusion was reportedly shattered when Giuliani, Powell, "and a swelling conspiracy crew marched into the room" for the first of multiple meetings.
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.
Unsurprisingly, things did not go well, and whenever the two groups met, the conversation would begin with the campaign's legal strategies before Giuliani and Powell took over. Swan reports that "bewildered campaign aides would look around the table at one another, silently asking what the hell was going on" before one person would "invariably shuffle out of the room." Every few minutes, another would follow until they all reconvened safely in Stepien's office down the hall. Read more at Axios.
-
Jaguar Land Rover’s cyber bailoutTalking Point Should the government do more to protect business from the ‘cyber shockwave’?
-
Russia: already at war with Europe?Talking Point As Kremlin begins ‘cranking up attacks’ on Ukraine’s European allies, questions about future action remain unanswered
-
Sudoku hard: October 5, 2025The Week's daily hard sudoku puzzle
-
US tipped to help Kyiv strike Russian energy sitesSpeed Read Trump has approved providing Ukraine with intelligence for missile strikes on Russian energy infrastructure
-
Netanyahu agrees to Trump’s new Gaza peace planSpeed Read At President Trump's meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, they agreed upon a plan to end Israel’s war in Gaza
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of TaiwanIn the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
Moldova gives decisive win to pro-EU partySpeed Read The country is now on track to join the European Union within five years
-
Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdownIN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
-
UK, 3 Western allies recognize Palestinian stateSpeed Read Britain, Canada, Australia and Portugal formally recognized the state of Palestine
-
Russia slams Kyiv, hits government buildingSpeed Read This was Moscow's largest aerial assault since launching its full-scale invasion in 2022
-
China's Xi hosts Modi, Putin, Kim in challenge to USSpeed Read Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other Asian leaders at an SCO summit
