What Trump could do after leaving the White House
Donald Trump will remain in office until January 20, 2021, when he will hand over the post to his successor and join the exclusive club of former US presidents. What will happen to the politician and the business magnate at that point?
Jimmy Carter was involved in humanitarian causes and George W. Bush devoted himself to art. But Trump has never been a traditional politician. Here are some of the possibilities at stake.
He could apply again
Donald Trump could run again in the 2024 elections, a sign that perhaps he is starting to digest defeat in the 2020 elections even if he has not yet admitted it. According to two different sources cited by the Axios news site, Trump told his close associates that he is considering reapplying for the White House in four years.
The US Constitution states that "no person can be elected to the office of President more than twice," but it says nothing about the fact that the terms must be consecutive. "I would absolutely put him on the list of people likely to race in 2024," former chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said recently. Trump clearly loves election competitions and has received 71.5 million votes in elections - a record that clearly demonstrates a significant base of support among the American public.
Saving his business empire
Before becoming a politician, Trump was a real estate tycoon, a television star and the ambassador of his personal trademark. Now Trump may want to pick up where he left off four years ago and get back into business.
The New York Times reported that Trump has over $ 400 million in loans due over the next few years, although he said it represents "a small percentage" of his net worth. The Trump Organization has several hotels and golf courses. There are Trump-branded properties in Mumbai, Istanbul and the Philippines - and of course Washington, DC - and golf courses in the US, UK, Dubai, and Indonesia.
If this is the path the president chooses in January, he will have a lot of work ahead of him. Many of his business ventures are in the travel and leisure sector, which has been severely affected by the Coronavirus pandemic. According to Forbes, Covid could have impacted up to $ 1 billion on Trump's wealth.
Become a media tycoon
According to the well-informed gossip column Page Six, the president would be literally "bombarded" with offers to write books and make TV shows, and he could make as much as $ 100 million. In fact, a source close to Trump would have explained that the president is courted by far-right television networks - and here, more than Fox News with which he is on a break, one would think of One America News Network - and by publishing houses. It would be a way, the source explains to the site owned by the New York Post, to "turn 70 million votes into record viewers and sales: all the books against Trump have earned a lot of money, and Donald's would certainly be a best seller".
Without considering that, as early as 2016, Trump's real goal was said to be founding an ultra-right channel or launching a reality show on an alternative presidency: a sort of shadow administration with which to hammer the Democrats and increase his influence and popularity among the conservatives. Then, however, he surprisingly won and found himself in the White House.
Post-presidential retirement
Trump will have a presidential pension - and many other benefits - when he leaves office. Former Presidents Act, enacted in 1958, provides benefits including an annual pension, which was $ 207,800 in 2017. Former presidents can also benefit from lifetime intelligence protection, health benefits, and office expenses and personal. So Trump, now 74, may decide to quietly retire.
