Thread by @AltScalesOfJust

[THREAD] It's time to have some fun. I'm pulling out the crystal ball, playing Prof. Trelawney, and predicting Trump's future

I'll make predictions both within and way outside of my areas of expertise, so my odds of success are roughly equal to Trelawney's

I do offer a money-back guarantee, though! 😜 So, without further ado, let's roll the dice... 🔮

{START} Trump's mental illness will continue becoming more and more obvious to the world

Moderate Republicans and independents will continue abandoning him behind closed doors, and the agenda remains ground to a slow crawl

Some Republicans will continue to publicly break ranks with him, but not enough to matter

Trump's public support will not shrink much below where it currently is

USA has already found our core of die-hard racists and bigots, and he is their messiah

As Trump's rants continue, more moderate Republicans and independents will publicly disagree with question him

There will be even more chaos and infighting within the GOP party between those who want to make the best of a bad situation

and continue overtly supporting Trump, and those who want to push him out to save the GOP brand

There will be increased calls for impeachment among the public, Democrats, and, gradually, more Republicans

Enough of the GOP politicians will rebel against Trump to stop any remaining chance of advancing his agenda

but not enough to get a vote for impeachment in the House. So the country will flounder, rudderless, leaderless

While North Korea, Russia, China, & others position themselves to take advantage of our weakness

Mueller's probe will continue discovering very incriminating information, but with discipline and no unauthorized disclosures

Charges will begin being filed against lower level players, and some will flip to cooperating witness against big fish like Trump

As this happens, there will be occasional bombshell revelations and news will continue returning to Russiagate

And, increasingly, to the long-term Trump business financial crimes that are uncovered through the ongoing investigations

Throughout all of this, there will be nonstop rumors and discussions of Trump resigning, and positioning within GOP in case he does

But ultimately, Trump's narcissism will make him incapable of acknowledging any fault

And his ego will make him unable to willingly go down in history as a President who resigned

So he will deny the rumors and attack everyone around him, whether GOP, Dem, or other, with a scorched-Earth desperation

Manafort and others provide damning testimony against Trump & family in exchange for reduced sentences themselves, and start pleading guilty

In the 2018 elections, the Senate map is terrible for Democrats, but they squeak out a very slim majority in the Senate

The Republicans hold the House, but lose seats so their margin over Democrats is thin

With the increased Democrat presence in the House, and Trump's deteriorating actions, the House finally passes articles of Impeachment

Numerous Republican Senators break with Trump and vote to remove him, but cannot get to the 2/3 threshold

Severely wounded by the process, increasingly threatened by advancing Mueller investigations,

And with open turf wars happening within GOP in Congress

Trump stops even pretending to pursue the campaign agenda, and only seeks revenge against those who were not loyal to him

As word spreads that Mueller has enough evidence to charge Trump and family of multiple crimes, including

obstruction of justice, money laundering and business-related financial fraud, Trump tries the Hail Mary play and pardons himself

It is immediately challenged, and is fast-tracked to the Supreme Court. After involved debate, they vote the pardon is invalid

Trump denies the Supreme Court's authority and tries to issue an executive order restricting the Supreme Court's powers

The move is clearly unconstitutional, and GOP has had enough. Congress votes to use the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office

due to mental incapacity. Pence becomes President, but is by now himself a target in the collusion and obstruction of justice investigations

Due to public outcry, Pence does not pardon Trump and family, who are ultimately convicted and jailed

Pence focuses on trying to restore the structure of the government and rebuild the GOP

Checks and balances worked, & the Constitution remains in place, but Pence is still a President in crisis, & GOP is fractured beyond saving

Public conflict reduces & white supremacists that rose under Trump begin disappearing back into the woodwork as main parties all reject them

The public government crisis fades, & protests become fewer & less attended, but Pence & Congress are totally unable to accomplish anything

As 2020 approaches, the GOP fractures into a traditional *fiscally* conservative party that embraces some socially liberal views

And an extremist party that contains the remnants of the Tea Party and the white supremacists.

The extremist Nationalist party becomes a very vocal, but ultimately powerless party

The rebranded Conservative party wins many former Republicans and independents who are socially tolerant, but fiscally conservative

They go on to do quite well in the elections. The Democratic Party coalesces around a couple strong candidates

Gerrymandering had been found unconstitutional, and redrawn district boundaries provide more competitive races nationwide

Democrats win the Presidency & both halves of Congress in 2020 although the Conservative party makes a strong showing & keeps them in check

After inauguration of the new President, Pence is formally charged for his role in the collusion and obstruction of justice

The new President, however, pardons Pence and a few of the lower level actors from Russiagate

It takes years, but the country coalesces around the new parties, and an improved culture of social tolerance

And a culture of embracing people of color, women, and LGBT in a way that has never truly happened before

Ultimately, America emerges from the crisis stronger, with a previously hidden rotten core exposed and rejected

We emerge as a more tolerant and accepting country, with deep scars, but a renewed national priority on truth, respect, and decency {end}

Do I think I'm close? Beats me. Ask me in several years. It was fun throwing darts at the dartboard, though

Do *you* think I'm close? Do you think I'm utterly brainless and smoking something? Let me know what you think!