Rueful Trump Wishes He Knew Republicans This Willing To Overthrow Democracy Earlier In Term

WASHINGTON—Looking back in disappointment at all the opportunities that had been wasted, a crestfallen Donald Trump told sources Monday he wished he had known much earlier in his presidency how willing congressional Republicans were to simply overthrow democracy. “God, if I’d known how far all these senators were willing to go back in 2017 or 2018, I could have had everything I wanted with no problem at all,” said Trump, who bemoaned his belated realization of how easily the democratic process—which had held up construction on the border wall and the handing out of government contracts to his allies—could just be tossed aside. “Obviously, there was some kind of breakdown in communication here. If we had been on the same page since day one, we could have skipped the whole 2018 midterm! I could have declared martial law, appointed Republican supermajorities to Congress, and had all the tax cuts and immigration crackdowns I wanted. Why the hell did they wait until now to show their support for a complete authoritarian takeover? Do they feel like they can’t talk to me?” At press time, White House sources confirmed Trump had asked Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to implement a plan for improved coordination with congressional Republicans during his second term.