What was it? Does it depend on when precisely you're asking about? Did it change? Maggie Haberman writes that "something changed" shortly after the reality of electoral defeat sank in with Trump. He had made statements, "Can you believe I lost to that fucking guy?" and this, Trump to Meadows overheard by Hutchinson:
“He had said something to the effect of, I don't want people to know we lost, Mark. This is embarrassing. Figure it out. We need to figure it out. I don't want people to know that we lost."
The Committee did an excellent job of proving that Trump knew and really, truly knew, internalized, that he had lost. The Committee did an excellent job on premeditation, it was not spontaneous, and premeditation requires no particular time for "reflection" before action. But what did he premeditate? Trump's "Be there, will be wild!" tweet on Dec. 19 proves premeditation of the Jan. 6 coup beyond a reasonable doubt. But did what he premeditated change? Was it always a coup d'etat? Did Trump's state of mind change sometime after the votes had all been counted when he acknowledged defeat? Brad "Death Star" Pascale said that Trump said as far back as July 2021 that he was going to claim victory even if he lost.
The statement to Meadows may be really important in determining his state of mind.
-It gives his emotional state, embarrassed;
-It shows that he knew he had lost;
-It hints at the beginning of his premeditation: "We need to figure it out". Figure what out?;
- It gives his goal: "I don't want people to know." (2x)
Think about that last. "I don't want people to know." That is such a strange locution. He knows that his people will never "know" unless he tells them! The universe of the knowable to Trump supporters comes from one source, Trump himself. Still, it is shocking to me that he had such faith in that constricted universe holding so tight that nothing else ever could break in. So he could never concede defeat. He took Giuliani's advice election night to just declare victory.
That was consistent with what he told Pascale four months before. Why would not wanting people to know be his goal? Because it was embarrassing? Did that goal change?
I don't know when Trump made that statement, it was close enough to the election that his state of mind was that he had lost but too close for him to "figure out" what to do about it. He didn't know what at the time he made that statement.
Maybe it's a natural evolution of the state of mind to go from "I know I lost, it's embarrassing, I don't want people to know," to a few days later raising all the claims of fraud. In other words, "I didn't concede so people didn't hear it from me, but now my actions are going to speak for me if I cooperate with the transition. I can't do that so I have to fight." That would explain the legal challenges, even the strong-arm tactics in Georgia and Arizona, but it doesn't explain the call to violence in the Dec. 19 tweet. You don't concede, you fight, you fight, you exhaust your legal challenges, he had just lost in the Supreme Court on Dec. 11--you have kept your people from "knowing". But how is it a natural evolution of state of mind to turn to violence. That's a WHOLE 'nuther state of mind! What caused his state of mind to change from the legal to the extra-legal? Did his goal change?
As late as Dec. 11 Trump's action of withdrawing troops from Somalia and Afghanistan coupled with his statement that those are now problems for "the next guy" are acknowledgement that he knew that he lost. Did something change between Dec. 11 and Dec. 19? Hard to see that. He lost 61 of 62 court cases challenging the election. By Dec. 11 he had to have lost 50 or 55? He knew the legal challenges had not succeeded and were not going to succeed. Did his state of mind really change when the Supremes denied him on the 19th? Hard to see that, maybe.
What was the goal after Jan. 6? He said he would move out, and he did, but he never did cooperate with the transition and took his sweet time packing up his shit. Isn't saying he would move out conceding? Didn't his people know then? Why would he move out? Isn't moving out the ultimate concession by act? His people knew that he had lost when he moved out. Why wouldn't he stand in the White House door like George Wallace stood in the school house door and force eviction?
Why didn't he call for his supporters to return on moving day, Jan. 20? From Stop the Steal to Stop the Move!
Was Jan. 6 his last fight? Why?
What was the goal of Jan. 6?
Did he really believe that the coup d'etat would succeed or was he just destroying as much as he could on his way out? Michael Cohen has an entirely reasonable point of view, that Trump's state of mind with the MAL docs is to extort DOJ by threatening the destruction of the country. But is that what it was on Jan. 6? As coups d'etat go Jan. 6 was pretty unimpressive.
What if Trump's "people" had succeeded in hanging Mike Pence so that the electoral certification could not proceed? What if the SS had succeeded in getting Pence in the car and flying him to Seattle? The Constitution does give the vice president and only the vice president the role of the electoral vote counting formality. It does say that the counting formality shall take place on however many days after the states send in the certified results. I was concerned that night that if the vote didn't conclude on Jan. 6 that there would be a constitutional question. In the event it did not conclude on the 6th but in the early morning of the 7th so I don't know what would have happened if Congress hadn't convened again later on the evening of the 6th, but was that Trump's state of mind? Did Trump think, "If my people can just prevent the count from starting on the 6th then I still have a chance"? As I also wrote on the night of the 6th surely the law is not an ass and if the country was under attack and Congress unable to meet on Jan. 6th that the election would be invalid. All to say, when the Capitol was cleared that day I remember walking to Subways to get something to eat and texting my ex-wife that I didn't think we really came out too bad when all was said and done. I didn't think the coup had come close to succeeding. Lots of people, including the Committee, disagree, but I still am not clear in my mind what exactly was in Trump's mind as he watched the coup unfold on the television in the dining room of the White House.
