Trump may be recognizing that his campaign is like a boat.

[MineralMan]

It's a hole in the water you have to keep throwing money into. By this time, he's realizing that he's not going to win in November, and can visualize whatever "fortune" he has slipping away from him if he continues to run.

I'm beginning to believe that he may just withdraw from his own campaign, probably after the convention takes place. He might see it as a way to do the ultimate thumbing of his nose at everyone. I believe that he's bent far enough in his own mind to see that as a satisfactory thing to do.

I've thought that his ego would carry him right through to November, but I'm beginning to doubt that. He's also a person with a history of abandoning enterprises that didn't work out for him. He may well see this presidential campaign as just another of his off-the-wall startups and cut it off when it looks like it's going south.

I haven't had this concern until just this week, but Trump may be looking for a bailout method that will keep the boat from sinking long enough to sell it to the next poor sucker looking for a boat.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. If so, the question for him will be - how can he get out

while still preserving his illusion of himself as being the greatest presidential candidate ever to have walked the earth? His ego is so immense and his narcissism so overwhelming that he won't be able to back out without doing something that will maintain that illusion. Trump clearly thinks of himself as a cross between Louis XIV and Muhammed Ali, only greater and richer. Maybe throw General Patton in there, too.

[auntpurl]

4. He can blame Repub leadership

for not getting behind him. That's my guess, anyway.

[MineralMan]

8. I think that sociopaths are masters of rationalization.

They have to be. Looking at his history, he's started and abandoned many things. Perhaps, in his own mind, he has already become a historical figure with his presidential run. Perhaps that's enough for him to be able to rationalize backing away from it and declaring that he somehow won by losing. He has bragged about his business bankruptcies, too.

I don't know. I may be completely off-base with this. He might just stick it out and lose in November. I can't really look into his head, so I'm just speculating about what he might do, if he can figure out a rationalization for it.

Part of me hopes he sticks it out through the convention and actually gets the nomination before abandoning the campaign. That would make it extremely difficult for the GOP to swap someone in who would be an actual challenge for Hillary. But, I don't know. He could bail before the convention if it suited his purpose and rationalization.

But, I'm actually considering this to be a real possibility at this point, and it could throw the whole campaign into a guessing game. I hope he doesn't do it, but I'm beginning to think he might.

[wiggs]

11. He will get out because he'll make money doing so, as always

I bet he's already given the RNC his price to drop out and I bet the RNC is loving it...a way to get a real candidate that hasn't compromised his/her chances by winning primary meant for RWNJs. Saves down ballot candidates, saves face. I bet they would consider hundreds of millions to be cheap. Trump 'sacrifices' his candidacy for the greater good, except that to him the good is that he's coming out of a campaign with profits. He gets over on everybody, which is all he cares about.

His disapprovals are over 70%! Even many in his base will be happy to vote for someone who has a chance. There will be relief, not a revolt.

And if the RNC, Kochs, Romney, Adelson don't come up with the hundreds of millions required, he'll sue the RNC for undermining his campaign, costing him money and time, and damaging his brand. He'll sue for literally billions. He'll sue organizations and individuals and it will be 'disgusting.' That's what he does.

There's no way Trump doesn't come out a winner in this and it has nothing to do with winning the presidency. He holds all the cards. Dems better be prepared or the tables will be turned and the dems will be the ones looking like fools.

[Agnosticsherbet]

2. I think he does see the office as a startup.

When his son talked about the way they fired Trump's campaign manager, he said, "That is the way we do it in Trump Tower." As an afterthought he added, "And in the campaign."

If his campaign does not meet projections, he may resign, declare it a loss, and move on.

[uponit7771]

3. The real flooding is him not raising any funds for down ballot and not having any funds for himself

... and this guy is a cheap skate or he's really not a billionaire.

He most likely has a couple of hundred liquid and that's about it

[Hortensis]

13. How about both? Cheapskate and billionaire but

without great liquidity and not nearly wealthy enough to spend a billion on his own campaign without really hurting? His brand is hurting badly, too.

This is kind of fun from Politico over a week ago:

Last month, in launching the Trump Victory joint fundraising committee, the RNC unveiled a list of nearly two dozen vice chairs and trustees who were tasked with helping raise money. Many of those involved, though, say they’ve since turned downright morose about their role. Some have been confronted with complaints from family members – “How could you?” one reported their children asking - while others say coming out in support of Trump have left them feeling vulnerable for their personal safety. Others say they signed on to help out of loyalty to the party but are struggling to stay motivated.

Some say they’ve considered quitting. Others said they’ve done little to help the fund, but allowed the RNC to use their name because the committee asked. “They asked me to agree to serve as a trustee, and I’ve agreed to do that,” said Hushang Ansary, a Houston businessman and former U.S. ambassador.

Those who are playing an active role find themselves searching for ways to appeal to weary donors, many of whom were shaken by Trump’s ferocious attack on a federal judge over his Mexican heritage. One pitch: asking for checks to be written to the RNC and not to Trump. That way, a contributor’s name won’t appear on the campaign’s federal campaign finance filings.

Sooo bad, but all these people so deserve their tsuris. Chris Hayes pointed out that Trump's really bad month started with his attack - totally gratuitous, out of nowhere, a propos of nothing - on the federal judge presiding over Trump U, only one of his fraud cases. Oh, to have been at his headquarters when they watched that on the screen!

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/donald-trump-donors-billion-224080#ixzz4CEJ6OfJ5

[Logical]

5. Good post! Nt

[cali]

6. I posted this as an OP in GD

Prior to the last few days, I couldn't wrap my mind around his narcissism/ego allowing him to drop out. Now I can't wrap my mind around his narcissism/ego allowing him to stay in and get beaten to shit over the next few months let alone being beaten to shit on election day by Hillary- a woman.

The last few days have revealed his campaign as nothing but a Potemkin Village. It's not built to sustain over the next month let alone until November. What would be worse for his business concerns? Dropping out now under the flimsy, filmy veil of "health" or staying in and being beat to shit for the next 5 months? Or forget his business concerns, this guy's thin skin and perilously overinflated ego, will self-destruct long before November.

I just don't see him making it to November.

[MineralMan]

9. It's not an idea I had been entertaining until very recently.

As a rational human being, I couldn't imagine running for President and being psychologically able to abandon that once it started.

I didn't see your post, since I haven't been in GD much lately. It's probably not an idea that isn't being considered by a lot of people who are looking at Trump from a distance.

But, I guess we agree that this is a real possibility. Now, I have to wrap my head around what it might mean for this year's election. I haven't really started working on that possibility yet.

[cali]

14. It's only over the past few days that it's seemed remotely realistic to me.

I don't think it would mean much as far as changing the outcome- which I believe will be disastrous for Repubs from top to bottom.

[MineralMan]

15. I'm sure we're not the only ones thinking about the possibility.

I imagine we'll see other speculation about it soon. Hillary's destroying him on economical grounds right now in a speech.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

12. I'm also beginning to think that's a possibility,

now that his poll numbers have started looking spectacularly bad, he's running out of money, and the media are finally starting to do their jobs and actually reporting some of the sleazy stuff he's been up to for all these years. He might be able to find a way out that dumps all the blame on the GOP and preserves his ego (which, like the Hindenburg, is yuuge and could blow up dramatically). If so, where does that leave the GOP? They could recruit one of their other losers (many of whom now bear the taint of Trump), but it's awfully late to get any kind of a campaign together. I think they are screwed either way, which makes me happy.

Trump has a Clinton-bashing speech scheduled for Wednesday. It will be interesting to see how that goes.

[PJMcK]

7. He's gonna need a bigger boat (wink, n/t)

[MineralMan]

10. Say...you're right.

"So, Mr. Trump, why are you selling this boat, anyhow?"

Excellent!

[nolabear]

16. The SS Trumpy McTrumpface.

[MineralMan]

17. LOL!

[wiggs]

18. This may be what's happening, speaking of 'losing the primary in order to win the general'

I thought when Jeb said that, he meant that it would be nearly impossible for a republican to win the presidency. A gop candidate couldn't get far enough right on the issues to win the primaries then also be in a position to appeal to the electorate in the broader general election. Any moderate republican that could win the general, wouldn't/couldn't win the gop nomination via primaries and voting. An impossible situation for a gop candidate.

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/jeb-bush-gop-needs-lose-the-primary-win-the-general

Maybe, though, they figured it out? Run a trojan horse candidate. Candidate appeals to the Limbaugh/Fox/nationalist unsympathetic hardass wing of the republican party, choosing to take whatever positions needed to win the required number of delegates. Those moderate candidates who thought they had a chance against Clinton in the general can't break into double digits in primary votes. In the process of posing as the ultimate white hardass the GOP base has been told they've been hoping for, the trojan horse literally disqualifies himself as a reasonable centrist who could conceivably win the general. His negatives go to 70%, maybe intentionally. He doesn't really run a campaign (Josh Marshall). He doesn't go to the trouble of staffing up nationally (50 staffers only), raising money (1/30th of what clinton has), acting presidential. No one who really wants to win acts this way.

Behind the scenes, this candidate is telling the RNC to either come up with enough payoff to compensate him for his time and money....or....he'll sue to get his money back and to offset damage to his brand. The RNC, Koch, and Adelson will gladly give him a few hundred million rather than get sued for a couple of billion. The candidate quits just before the convention, citing lack of support from the RNC. He warned them, after all, that he might have to go it alone and might leave if they don't treat him well. The RNC has a more palatable candidate lined up to make a major speech at the convention, acting as savior. Conservatives are relieved and ecstatic to have someone who has a chance and who can help down ballot voting.

The RNC doesn't have to oust him in a chaotic convention. Doesn't have to deny voters their delegates....he quit of his own volition. He fakes his own political death in order that someone else gets elected.

Everyone in RWNJ-world wins and the trojan horse profits bigley and is celebrated for taking on the establishment RNC. He makes money and is even more famous...which is all he cares about.

Dems better be ready for it.