Thought experiment: What would the impact be of a post-presidency Trump responding to a U.S. health crisis overseen by a Democratic president? Basically the Fox-fueled fearmongering of Ebola 2014... but he's a former president with a much bigger fanbase.
In general, I think people are underestimating the influence Trump will continue to have after he leaves office. He's going to keep watching Fox News and tweeting about what he sees, and that's going to suck up a big chunk of the media hole and allow him to control the GOP.
It's difficult for me to imagine, for example, any Democratic president's trade deal getting Senate ratification. Knowing nothing, Trump will say it's a bad deal, and that'll polarize the deal politically.
If the next president reinstitutes the White House press briefing, you have to assume a big chunk of questions will be, "respond to this thing the former president tweeted this morning."
