Still, at times it seemed like Trump was already president, in large part because Biden quickly disappeared from the stage.
It was Trump’s second full press conference at Mar-a-Lago since forming his administration, and in that respect it followed tradition: Biden held multiple press conferences in Delaware four years ago, SolarWinds, which denounced Russia for attacking critical parts of U.S. software, then expressed fear for the violence at the Capitol on January 6.
But over the past six months, Biden’s exit has made Trump louder and more influential. Biden’s last lengthy news conference came after last July’s NATO summit in Washington, and his aides were on edge throughout, fearing he would do what he did on stage in June’s debate with Trump. Freeze.
Today, when Mr. Biden issues executive orders, he does so via paper or email. He rarely talked about them and rarely asked detailed questions. He has never spoken publicly about China’s hacking of U.S. telecommunications companies, which his aides say may be the most pressing new national security threat in the past six months. (Oddly, neither has Mr. Trump, who can make a clearer case for why hacking inside U.S. communications systems poses a threat to the U.S. government and private industry than the long-standing Chinese ports near the Panama Canal.)
As the current president fades from view, Trump seems to realize that if he takes office, no one will oppose his interpretation of recent history. He is quickly rewriting that history, just as he is retelling the events of Jan. 6, hoping his election will vindicate Americans’ belief that prosecutors are pursuing him out of revenge rather than justice.
“This is a sick group of people who are doing everything to influence the election,” Trump said of the investigation led by special counsel Jack Smith. “This is all a fight against their political opponents. We have never had this in this country. We have experienced this in some countries. We have experienced this in third-tier countries. Inevitably, he Start talking about a “banana republic,” a familiar line from the first term. Some things won’t change.
