ゴルフ？　ツイッター？　再出馬？　トランプ氏　今後のシナリオ

【ワシントンＡＦＰ＝時事】米大統領選で再選を狙っていた現職のドナルド・トランプ大統領が、ジョー・バイデン前大統領に敗れたことが確実になったとネットワークが伝えた時、トランプ氏はゴルフの真っ最中だった。本人が望めば、同氏は近いうちにゴルフを楽しむ時間がたっぷり確保できるようになる。（写真は資料写真）
　しかしトランプ氏に不変のものがあるとすれば、それは注目を浴びることへの執着だ。大統領の中で最も型破りだった同氏が、公の場での発言を控えて在職当時を振り返る回顧録を執筆し、時折慈善行事に出席するといった退任後の一般的な生活を求めるとは予想しにくい。

■２０２４年大統領選に出馬？
　ホワイトハウスの鍵は失うものの、ツイッターへのログインが不可能になることはない。トランプ氏のうずく指がツイートを続ければ、引き続き共和党に強い影響力を及ぼす可能性がある。
　トランプ氏は２０２４年の大統領選に再出馬する意向があると語る関係者も既にいる。歴代の米大統領の中で返り咲きを果たしたのは、小差で敗れた４年後の１８９２年に勝利したグローバー・クリーブランド大統領のみだ。
　大統領首席補佐官代行を務めたミック・マルバニー氏はアイルランドのシンクタンクに対し、トランプ氏は「負けるのが嫌いだ」と控え目な表現で語った。その上で、トランプ氏が「政治に引き続き関与すると十分見込んでおり、２０２４年（の大統領選）の出馬は絶対にあると思っている」と明言した。

■自身のテレビ立ち上げ？
　ニューヨーク生まれで３度結婚したホテルデベロッパーで、テレビタレントでもあるトランプ氏は、大統領就任前の安楽な生活を望んでいることを隠していない。自身の台頭を支援したＦＯＸニュースの保守姿勢が不十分だとして不満を募らせている同氏は、「トランプＴＶ」のブランド立ち上げを検討する意向を示唆している。
　このプロジェクトに活用できそうな手段は、トランプ氏支持を公言しているケーブルチャンネル「ワン・アメリカ・ニュース」と「ニュースマックスＴＶ」の形で既に存在している。両チャンネルは現時点で弱小であるものの、トランプ氏が買収すれば大手に成長する可能性がある。

■刑務所行き？
　負けず劣らず現実味があるのは、トランプ氏が重大な法的問題に巻き込まれるというシナリオだ。既にニューヨークの検察当局は、同氏がポルノ女優に口止め料を支払った疑惑や、自身の企業の複雑な取引、不可解な財務慣行について捜査を進めている。さらには、以前から浮上しているレイプなどの性的暴力の疑惑がある。
　トランプ氏は大統領としておおむね免責特権に守られている。同氏がまた一般的な規範に挑戦し、先手を打って自身の恩赦を試みるとの観測もある。

■自動車旅行？
　あるいは、あくまでも推測だが、トランプ氏がすべてからの逃避を求める可能性もある。これは現実的でないように思えるものの、ほのめかしは若干ある。同氏は６月にホワイトハウスで、レクリエーショナル・ビークル（キャンピングカー）に乗って元モデルのメラニア夫人と旅に出ることを検討していた。
　これに比べてロマンチックではないものの、トランプ氏は同じように実感をこめて、ペンシルベニア州の選挙集会で演説を中断し、駐車中のトラックを称賛した。同氏は「素晴らしいトラックだ。わたしがあの中の一台に乗って走り去るかもしれないと思っていないか？そうしたいものだね。運転して、さっさとここから抜け出したい」などと語った。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/11/09-12:34）

When networks projected he had lost his bid for reelection to Joe Biden, President Donald Trump was playing golf. He'll soon have plenty more time to enjoy the links if he so desires.
But if there's one constant for Trump, it is his love of the limelight and few expect this most unusual of presidents to pursue a traditional post-White House life of public reticence, reflective memoir-writing and occasional charitable events.
He will lose the keys to the White House but not his login on Twitter, where Trump and his itchy fingers could still wield powerful control over his Republican Party.
Some allies have already spoken of Trump planning a rematch in 2024. Only one other president, Grover Cleveland, has served non-consecutive terms, winning in 1892 after narrowly losing reelection four years earlier.
Former White House chief of staff Mark Mulvaney said with understatement that Trump -- who has refused to concede and made unsubstantiated claims of widespread fraud -- doesn't like losing.
I would absolutely expect the president to stay involved in politics and would absolutely put him on the shortlist of people who are likely to run in 2024, he told an Irish think tank.
He's a very high-energy 74-year-old.
Trump's children have made clear that they are still demanding loyalty from Republicans.
The total lack of action from virtually all of the '2024 GOP hopefuls' is pretty amazing, Donald Trump Jr. tweeted on Thursday.
He called out by name Senator Lindsey Graham, a former Trump critic turned supporter who coasted to reelection. Hours afterward, Graham was on Trump's favorite Fox News show pledging money for the president's legal defense and repeating unsubstantiated accusations of election irregularities.
- Trump TV? -
The thrice-married New York-born hotel developer and television celebrity has made no secret that he longs for some comforts of his pre-White House days.
I had a nice life. I had the greatest life, Trump said in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in his final campaign rally.
His main product to fund that lifestyle has been his own name. According to his disgraced former lawyer Michael Cohen, the 2016 presidential run itself was conceived as a branding opportunity -- until he unexpectedly won.
Trump had rebuilt his public profile in the 2000s as the host of reality TV series Celebrity Apprentice following a string of bankruptcies.
The president has hinted about seeking to start a Trump TV brand as he has increasingly complained about Fox News, accusing the channel that helped fuel his rise of being insufficiently right-wing.
Viewers, he tweeted, want an alternative now. So do I!
And no one can deny Trump has the gift of the gab.
At his innumerable rallies, he held large crowds in a kind of mesmerized attention with stream-of-consciousness shifts from conspiracy theories to jokes to pet peeves, like his peculiarly passionate criticism of feeble water pressure in bathroom faucets.
And he has a potential readymade vehicle for the project in the form of openly Trump-supporting cable channels One America News and NewsMax TV -- current minnows that a Trump takeover could turn into giants.
- Prison, or a road trip? -
No less plausible is a scenario where Trump is embroiled in serious legal problems.
Prosecutors in New York are already probing Trump's hush money payment to a porn star, his tangled business dealings and mysterious accounting practices. Then there are those old rape and other sexual assault allegations.
As president, Trump is largely protected from prosecution. Some have speculated that he may again challenge accepted norms by trying to issue a pre-emptive pardon to himself.
Eight Trump associates, including men who served as his campaign managers, lawyer and national security advisor, have already been indicted or imprisoned for serious crimes including over the 2016 campaign's links to Russia.
Or, just maybe, Trump will want to get away from it all.
However implausible this sounds, he has dropped a few hints.
In June at the White House he mused about taking a road trip in an RV with his former model wife Melania.
Less romantic but equally heartfelt, he paused mid-speech during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania to admire parked trucks.
Nice trucks, the president said. You think I could hop into one of them and drive it away? I'd love to do it, just drive the hell out of here. Just get the hell out of this.