Just my wild guess here, but I don't think anything short of prison will stop Trump.

[pnwmom]

My theory is that he's been profiting from his involvement with Russians for decades. They intend to benefit from climate change (much of their territory will either be more inhabitable or more explorable for minerals, or both) -- and he thinks he'll be cut in. (Rex Tillerson of Exxon was his first Secretary of State. Exxon also has plans to benefit from climate change. This is no coincidence.)

He is ACCUSTOMED to major setbacks, so if he gets thrown out of office he -- as a pathological narcissist -- will just see it as another temporary setback. He won't hesitate to take the country down with him as he goes -- a major financial crisis and crash engineered for just as he leaves office would leave the Democrats holding the bag . If a Democrat took office just after or prior to a crash, s/he would be blamed, just as so many blamed Obama for not immediately being able to turn the Bush-crash around. Republicans like McConnell would find it in their personal interest to let the country suffer, as long as it led the Democrat to being a one-term President. Then Trump imagines he could function as the Republican kingmaker, still working along with the Russians, possibly planning to install Don Jr or Ivanka.

Thank goodness for Tisha James, because she is a prosecutor who is willing to take on Trump AND whose convictions could not be pardoned by any future President. The weight of the country might end up on her shoulders.

https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/8xdp44/russia-sees-climate-change-as-an-economic-blessing

While many parts of the world are struggling from catastrophic effects of climate change, Russia is looking to capitalize on it, with the Kremlin driving a narrative that touts the economic benefits.

Like more and faster access to petroleum and mineral reserves that were previously unreachable. The Northern Sea Passage, a legendary shipping lane along Russia’s Arctic coastline, has been largely inaccessible for part of the year because of dense sea ice. But now, that ice is melting, opening up a new trade route for Russia's cargo ships. Russian oil companies are already betting big on the new reserves they hope to find in the Russian Arctic, and other industries — like mining — are ramping up production since they now have faster shipping routes to many ports.

“The problem of climate change is actually the problem of adaptation to climate change. This is not a tragedy,” said Nobel Prize-winning climatologist Oleg Anisimov. “Certainly some places will become unlivable, but other areas are places that will become more livable.”

[guillaumeb]

1. The Russians became Trump's lenders of last resort after legitimate bankers

refused to deal with a con man who never willingly repaid his loans.

He has always been a crook, and a cheater. It is his business model.

[Grasswire2]

8. and a bully

That is his method.

Create a situation and then throw a fit and attack opponents.

It's how he has always operated.

[madville]

2. We know there won't be any federal prosecutions

Because he will pardon everyone who needs it for the entire US Federal Code before leaving office. My theory is that he will resign in January 2021 a few days early and then Pence will pardon him.

State level charges will then be the only course for anyone still motivated and then a jury would have to decide after years of litigation.

I'm resigned to the fact he and his hoard will escape federal prosecution and wind up immune from that. State prosecution could be a different story of course.

[jmowreader]

11. He won't wait till January 2021 to resign

I think if he loses the election, he will start at least one war the day after the election then immediately resign.

And if that happens, the then-President Pence may very well resign. I doubt Pence wants to go down in history as "oh, him? He was the guy who let a traitor off the hook." This would make Nancy Pelosi president until January 20, and as President For Two Months Pelosi has nothing to lose and everything to gain by ordering the US Marshals Service to go get the bastards.

[octoberlib]

3. Totally agree. Trump's been at this his whole adult life.

[Runningdawg]

4. My money is on the state of NY. He screwed them over for so long, they really want a piece.

[LonePirate]

5. Agreed. He needs to be arrested and jailed. The next President should not pardon him, either.

Show some respect for the Constitution and the rule of law. Let him rot in prison until he dies.

[NBachers]

6. He belongs in Supermax, where he can't agitate his cult.

[moondust]

7. Great Recession began in December 2007.

Was it deliberate to "leave the Democrats holding the bag" after a Democrat would surely win in 2008? The timing is interesting.

Russia--largest country on Earth--has plenty of inhabitable area now but nobody is moving there. So it's about the economic benefits of arctic oil and minerals. Indeed, Trump the fossil fuels champion was a big reason Putin wanted him, along with lifting sanctions and weakening NATO and the EU.

Maybe he won't live much longer.

[MarvinGardens]

9. His health.

Look at the guy. Look at his habits. I'd be surprised if he could serve 2 full terms even if somehow reelected.

[tanyev]

10. Yep, he'd keep holding rallies, making a nuisance of himself on Twitter,

and cozying up to thuggish dictators. It would take a prison sentence or health issue to make it truly stop.