“In the closing months of his first term in office, President Donald Trump has taken the public approach of a wannabe authoritarian, but with the private perspective of a MAGA internet troll. Over the past week, Trump declined to commit to a peaceful, orderly transition of power, no matter who wins the 2020 presidential election, declaring at one point: ‘We’re going to have to see what happens.’ To horrified voters, onlookers, and the Democratic opposition, it was another clear instance of the sitting president openly telegraphing his plans to seize power, something some administration officials fear will soon take form within the federal government and among major party organs” reports the Daily Beast.
“But to Trump, it was funny as hell. According to two people familiar with the matter, hours after the president stepped away from the cameras, Trump continued following the fallout in the press, including on cable news, and began privately remarking how amusing it was that his answer was making media and liberal heads explode, and also predictably dominating TV coverage. ‘He seemed to get a real kick out of it,’ one source said, adding that the president seemed to relish making the press, in Trump’s words, ‘go crazy’ over his non-commitment to democratic norms and procedure. ‘[Trump] wasn’t going to be playing by their rules on this just to make them feel comfortable.'”