An Unimaginable Threat (theatlantic.com)

🧠 Overview & Context

In “What Happens If Trump Wins?”, published in The Atlantic’s January 2024 issue, David Frum explores how a second Trump administration would differ from the first — not by repeating past chaos, but by delivering on its threats with greater planning, loyalty, and impunity.

Frum warns that the next Trump term would be less constrained by inexperience, dissenting aides, or institutional resistance. Instead, it would be a focused attempt to consolidate power, weaken checks and balances, and shield Trump from accountability.

🚨 Key Takeaways

• Schedule F Revival: Trump plans to use Schedule F to purge tens of thousands of federal employees, replacing them with ideological loyalists.
• Immunity & Pardons: Legal experts close to Trump propose using the Justice Department as a shield, and granting blanket pardons — possibly even preemptively — to himself and allies.
• Loyalty First: Personnel would be selected for their personal loyalty, not competence — a sharp contrast to 2016, when “adults in the room” tempered Trump’s instincts.
• Institutional Breakdown: Trump’s allies no longer see bureaucratic institutions or legal norms as constraints — they plan to actively dismantle them.

“This time, Trump won’t be stymied by disorganization or dissent. This time, he knows what he wants — and how to get it.”

📎 Citation

Frum, D. (2024, January). What Happens If Trump Wins?. The Atlantic. Archived at https://archive.is/8Dbn8
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