Where Is Donald Trump Going to Be in Five Years?

Pretty wide range of possibilities!

The way time seems to sprint away from you as you get older would argue to the contrary, but the fact is that five years is a long time. Five years ago, Louis CK was one of the most celebrated, beloved entertainers in the country; now he is, uh, not that. Five years ago, the MLB playoffs included the Cubs, Diamondbacks, Rockies and Nationals — all four teams are now among the worst teams in the sport. Five years ago, most people just knew Jordan Peele as the other guy in “Key & Peele.” A lot can happen in five years.

It is fair to say that former President Donald Trump has had an active week. A report surfaced at the beginning of the week that he demanded his general be as loyal to him as they were to Hitler. (The irony of course being that Hitler’s generals were constantly trying to kill him.) This morning he refused to answer grand jury questions involving his business practices, pleading the Fifth. On Tuesday, the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago, for reasons that are still not entirely clear but, fair to say, are unlikely to be particularly shocking when we discover what they were. All this is on the heels of the overwhelming case the January 6 made for his culpability in fomenting an insurrection … a case they still haven’t closed.

Oh, and also he might announce that he’s running for President in the next month or so. It is fair to say that Trump, 76, is an active senior.

I find myself fascinated with that central question: Where will Donald Trump be in five years? The range of potential outcomes here as wide a range as any in American history. He could be in prison. He could also be the most powerful man on the planet and one of the most significant figures in world history. He also might just be sitting on a golf course eating cheeseburgers. It is more than a little concerning that the fate of the American experiment may rest on what happens over the next five years to a 76-year-old man from Queens. But it just might.

So, what’s going to happen? It sure looks like there are four major possibilities for Trump on August 10, 2027. I could try to rank these, or give you some sort of odds, but let’s not kid ourselves: No one could have predicted a single aspect of the last five years, so…