Frankly, I sincerely believe that this is Trump’s last stand. Even he has stated that he will not run again. His physical and mental health are deteriorating very badly now and it is impossible that the GQP does not recognize this.
In fact, I believe they are embracing it. It is my belief that should Trump win, he will very rapidly be deposed by his own party, in favor of Vance who deserves ample criticism and vitriol but who is sane, intelligent and 100% willing to sell out anyone and everyone ( see his family, especially his remarks re: his wife and everyone from Appalachia) for his personal shot at power. Backed, of course by Peter Thiel who was not born in the US and so, like Musk, is ineligible to be POTUS. However they are happy to sponsor their own puppets. I am not convinced JD will dance completely to their tune but close enough in the beginning.
At best, if he is re-elected, Trump can expect to stay out of prison, and be trotted out for occasional fund raising activities. He may be allowed to remain in office as a figurehead and might even be allowed to die of natural causes although they’d miss quite the political opportunity if they did not manage to have him die by assassination. That would be a huge fundraising opportunity and chance to further demonize the left that they’d have a hard time passing up. His family might even be able to retain control over the licensing of his image and voice.
If he was sufficiently compliant and If things go well enough, he could expect to die in office and have all the pomp and ceremony of a state funeral. I think he’d like that.
The only upside is that I’m pretty sure that his offspring are not going to be allowed the same access to power as they were in his first term. Those in charge will be intelligent and they have a detailed agenda that will make what is left of Afghanistan seem progressive.
The question really is what and who does JD actually stand for? Will he allow those who brought him to call all the dances? Or try to assert his own agenda, whatever that might be. Occasionally I feel a tiny glimmer of hope that JD might embrace Reagan’s vision as horrific as that was. It was miles more progressive than Project 2025. How times have changed that I see that as the best possible outcome if Trump is re-elected.