‘What else might he do?’: Concerns simmer over Trump’s last two weeks in office

Donald Trump has been described as a “threat to the future of our democracy” amid fears his lies about the US election result and stoking of insurrection at the Capitol on Wednesday will not be the end of his political career.

Observers said they worried about how the defeated president would use his final two weeks in office while he still has its “enormous” power.

Mr Trump, despite promising an “orderly transition of power” following the storming of Congress by his supporters, insisted in the same statement that he would never concede he had lost November’s poll. “The facts bear me out,” he claimed, falsely, bringing his administration full circle from Kellyanne Conway’s promotion of “alternative facts” back in 2017.

“While this represents the end of the greatest first term in presidential history, it’s only the beginning of our fight to make America great again,” Mr Trump added in his statement, warning that his attempts to subvert democracy will continue. He told Wednesday’s pre-riot rally: “We will never give up.”

His sons announced the same intention, with Eric Trump warning Republicans: "My father has started a movement, and this movement will never, ever die." Donald Jr told the GOP to expect right-wing challenges in their constituencies if they failed to get, or stay, on board.

:: Follow live updates on the aftermath of the Capitol riot here

John Brennan, the former CIA director who has been an outspoken critic of Mr Trump, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: "He has another two weeks in office, and the powers of the presidency are enormous.

“I am concerned about what else he might try to do to try to hold onto the office. I do believe that it really is going to be up to the vice president as well as members of the cabinet and the Congress to do everything possible to restrain Donald Trump from continuing down what I think are some very dangerous paths.”

Asked if he was confident that “the apparatus of American democracy” would constrain Mr Trump, he added: “It is up to individuals to carry out the laws and, unfortunately, I think we have seen that some individuals have fallen short when it comes to doing what is right as opposed to what is politically expedient.”

Mr Brennan was speaking after Muriel Bowser, the mayor of Washington DC, indicated she feared further trouble on inauguration day by extending a public emergency declaration one day past the event, giving administrators extra powers.

Also on Wednesday, Chris Coons, a Democratic senator, said Mr Trump "poses a real and present threat to the future of our democracy".

In an address to the Senate noting the number of Republicans still repeating the president’s lies, he added: “When will this fever break? When will we finally say to each other, ‘Enough is enough,’ of indulging and following in populism and demagoguery? Is it time to finally show who the leaders are?”

Mick Mulvaney, Mr Trump’s former chief of staff, resigned his post as envoy to Northern Ireland in the wake of the Capitol riot. He told CNBC on Thursday: "I can’t stay. Those who choose to stay, and I have talked with some of them, are choosing to stay because they’re worried the president might put someone worse in.”

Dr Leslie Vinjamuri, the head of Chatham House’s US and Americas Programme, said she did not expect a new, overt attempt by Mr Trump to seize power, having “gone through every mechanism possible” to overturn the election and come up short. Though he has done a lot of damage, “he has failed in every dimension", she told The Independent.

Congress has “drawn a line in the sand”, Dr Vinjamuri said. “They finished the process. There’s nothing that will stop that and the president knows it. Hence his statement.” She added: “It’s over. The question is whether he will definitely stay in power until 20 January.”

We could see other actions like a new wave of pardons emerge from the Oval Office, Dr Vinjamuri added. But a formal process of impeachment is not out of the question and may well succeed this time, cutting short Mr Trump’s last days in power, she said. “That is the only way of preventing him from running for office again.”

Dr Vinjamuri also said she did not expect to see a repeat of the attack on the Capitol, instead predicting “a concerted effort to maintain law and order”. In particular, Joe Biden’s inauguration is likely to see security ramped up even higher than it already would have been as a result of the violence. “That will be a very highly protected and choreographed event, far more so now.”

One real danger is to national security, Dr Vinjamuri said. "It’s just about the incredible uncertainty. What’s the impact of this instability? We’re in a very precarious position for the next two weeks. I’m very worried about the repercussions. We’re two weeks out – China is watching this, Russia is watching this, Iran is watching this.

“If people aren’t guarding the ship, the security of the United States, both in the short term it leaves us vulnerable [and] in the medium term, it really impacts the transition. There’s nobody to talk to.”

Ex-intelligence officials have told The Independent they fear what comes next, after Mr Trump leaves power. Denver Riggleman, also a former Republican member of Congress, said he believed Washington would have to appoint “a domestic terrorism czar and [begin] an anti-online-radicalisation and -disinformation effort that's government-wide”.

He added: “When you put radical, radical ideas together with messianic belief systems, that is a recipe for disaster. We are lucky things didn’t burn this time.”

And Matthew Feldman, director of the Centre for Analysis of the Radical Right, said some on the fringes may be emboldened to act again as they did at the Capitol. “The groups like Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, this could have the effect of radicalising them towards further political violence,” he told The Independent.

Prof Feldman said that “on day one” Joe Biden may have to begin tackling far-right extremism in the same way as the US is fighting the opioid epidemic. Deradicalisation will be an arduous road, he added. “Obviously the problem of right-wing extremism isn’t going away overnight. It abuts the mainstream – that for me is the key problem. These people are not your classic extremists.”