Ideally, Donald Trump would step down, apologize to the American people, promise not to flee the country and await some long overdue justice. Of course he’s not going to do that. But I also doubt the recovering coronavirus patient has the energy to put up a fight when anyone shows up to escort him out of the White House.
For what it’s worth, I don’t think Trump will even be in the White House or the United States come January 20, 2021. Where in the world would Trump be? Scotland would seem to be a logical choice, since he has a golf course there.
Trump doesn’t care about law, ethics, tradition, the arts, etc., but golf is extremely important to him. So important that it doesn’t really matter what’s going on, if he has a chance to go golfing, he will take it.
Like this morning. Trump was probably cheating at the ninth hole when the networks finally called the election for President-elect Joe Biden. TrumpGolfCount.com has updated today as the most recent Trump golf course visit, but the website has yet to update the various statistics.
Prior to today, Trump’s golf habit has cost American taxpayers an estimated $142 million. The decent thing to do would be to give the Secret Service a 100% off discount. But Trump never does the decent thing.
Teeing off every day near Aberdeen probably sounds very appealing to Trump. But… people have been extradited from Scotland. For example, the BBC News reported back in June that
James Craig, of Dunragit in Dumfries and Galloway, is accused of using Twitter to distort prices of firms on the Nasdaq exchange in January 2013.
Mr Craig is accused of creating fake Twitter accounts for reputable market research companies and spreading fraudulent rumours about other firms.
It is alleged he bought shares as they slumped in response to the lies - then sold them when the price recovered.
James Craig is a fraudster who uses Twitter. I wonder who else does that description apply to? Don’t tell me, please, I want to figure it out on my own…
So Scotland is not an exile option for Trump. How about Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates? Before Trump’s racist travel ban, I had no ideal that Trump has a golf course in Dubai. According to a page on the Trump Organization website (which I’m deliberately not linking), the golf course was “designed by the legendary Tiger Woods.” Though I’m not sure if the course is ready yet.
Last year, R. Kelly sought permission to travel to the sheikhdom, causing concerns that he would try to escape justice that way. According to an Associated Press report carried by USA Today,
Kelly was charged on Feb. 22, [2019] with 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse for allegedly assaulting three underage girls and one adult woman, coming after the release of a documentary "Surviving R. Kelly." He has denied ever abusing anyone.
Ten counts of aggravated sexual assault. That sounds like someone, but who? Don’t tell me this one either, please.
Yet [Dubai] also has drawn world leaders seeking to escape their own countries. Pakistani Gen. Pervez Musharraf, facing criminal charges back home, fled to Dubai in 2016. Former Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra came to Dubai to avoid a criminal conviction in 2017, following in the footsteps of her brother, the ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
The U.S. does not have an extradition treaty with the UAE. However, the U.S. stations some 5,000 troops in the country and Dubai's Jebel Ali port is the biggest port of call for the U.S. Navy outside of America.
...
"The United States and the UAE have great relations and they (UAE) are not going to (jeopardize) that relationship to harbor R. Kelly," the filing [by R. Kelly’s lawyer] said.
Speaking only for myself, I’m okay with the sheikhdom harboring Donald Trump. I would prefer that the criminal and traitor face the full weight of the law. But the important thing is that he live out the rest of his long life where he can’t do any more damage.
Another exile option for Trump might be Russia, Marko Koulanakis suggested in a Miami Herald op-ed.
Unpopular leaders are sometimes forced to leave at a moment’s notice, like Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych’s door dash in 2014. He fled his palace, with only enough time to spirit out a few bags of gold bars onto a waiting chopper flying him to safety in nearby Russia, where he still lives. But not all ex-leaders are pushed and rushed out the door. Some are slowly coaxed to leave.
But Koulanakis acknowledges that having a Trump golf course is an important consideration in Trump’s exile calculation.
Trump may feel the personal desire to take a little time off from any political fallout should he lose and loudly continue to contest the 2020 election. If so, he may go to a Trump property in a foreign country where he actually pays taxes.
I wager that Trump will spend the next couple of months golfing at his American golf courses. But come January, he will probably make a discreet exit.
And what’s going on with Hillary Clinton? Anyone lock her up yet? Nope. Another broken Trump promise. And in most of the parallel universes in which she rightfully won the U. S. presidency in 2016, she’s probably been re-elected. But if not, she doesn’t have to worry about fleeing the country. Because she’s not a criminal who needs the presidency to shield her from accountability.
It’s such a relief that Joe Biden has won the popular vote and the Electoral College. I never doubted the former, but the latter was cause for extremely grave concern.
I think eventually Joe Biden will go golfing. But, like President Barack Obama during President Obama’s presidency, President Biden will mostly use public and military golf courses. Just as an American president should.