As Joe Biden widened his lead in Pennsylvania late last week, Donald Trump seemed, for a brief moment, to entertain the idea that he had lost the election. “Initially, Trump was thinking through options,” said a Republican who spoke with the president about the vote count. But Trump blew up any notion that he was a loser when the networks called Pennsylvania for Biden, and declared him president-elect. Apart from two golf outings, Trump bunkered in the White House glued to television, fuming at the positive media coverage Biden was receiving, and vowing to fight on. “As the weekend went on, Trump became more and more emboldened as he listened to people on TV saying fawning things about Biden,” the Republican said.
In recent days I spoke with a half dozen Republicans close to the White House, and they uniformly agreed that Trump is done. “It’s over,” said a campaign adviser. According to sources, even members of Trump’s legal team have privately said there’s virtually no chance the results can be overturned. “You have to be realistic,” said a prominent Republican close to the White House. The challenge for the West Wing, then, is finding a way to steer Trump to a place where he will accept reality. It won’t be easy: Sources said West Wing aides and members of the Trump family are scared to confront him directly. “People are explaining options to the president in a way that opens the door to a conclusion,” a former West Wing official said. “They’re telling him that it’s unlikely, but not impossible, to change the result.”
Sources said a Lord of the Flies atmosphere has enveloped the West Wing, with Trump advisers accusing each other of looking out for themselves. Two sources speculated that a report saying Jared Kushner had advised Trump to concede was a way for Kushner to position himself to his New York friends as a rational voice. “Jared is taking care of Jared,” one Trump adviser said. (Kushner and the Trump campaign did not respond to requests for comment.) Another Republican suggested that Rudy Giuliani and Steve Bannon are pushing the most extreme election-fraud conspiracies because they want to curry favor with Trump for pardons. (In August, Bannon pleaded not guilty after being charged with fraud over his alleged role in a private border-wall scheme, while Giuliani has reportedly been under investigation by the Southern District of New York.) Bannon and Giuliani did not respond to requests for comment.
Trump, who has been pushing unfounded fraud claims, has a financial incentive to continue the dubious legal challenges. The campaign is trying to raise millions from donors and plans to use some of the money to pay off its debts. There’s also a political imperative. “Trump is trying to keep the MAGA movement going. That gives him a lot of leverage,” one adviser said. “But what Trump is going to find out is that the minute he leaves the White House, he’ll be like a used car coming off the lot. His value will drop.”
Trump is girding for a protracted battle, but his staff is losing patience. “Why put up with it anymore?” a campaign adviser said, adding, “They are tired of his shit.”
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