That's where it was always gonna break down, though. Trump just didn't have the sway over his own cabinet, let alone enough key figures to pull it off. Like, a serious bid for power wouldn't have hinged on publicly threatening the guy you need to do the legal chicanery. There was no real plan, just a fairy-tale to rationalize a long chain of hasty decisions made in the moment.
That's where it was always gonna break down, though. Trump just didn't have the sway over his own cabinet, let alone enough key figures to pull it off. Like, a serious bid for power wouldn't have hinged on publicly threatening the guy you need to do the legal chicanery. There was no real plan, just a fairy-tale to rationalize a long chain of hasty decisions made in the moment.