Subject: Re: Trump orders DOJ to go after oil companies
I’ll given even odds that Trump simply stays in office by completely undermining the elections. The possible ways are infinite.

They're not infinite. In fact, there aren't any.

Trump has very limited ability to "undermine" the elections, in the sense of trying to get rid of their role in choosing the next President. Because they are almost entirely outside of federal control. He can certainly throw a lot of sand in the gears of those elections and make them less free and fair. But he's not going to be able to be on the ballot, and he's not going to be able to damage them enough that he can overcome the fact that he's not on the ballot.

His best chance of advancing his own interests lies instead through picking his successor and getting them elected. Yes, Trump is not often in the business of helping other people. But in this case, when he helps others he's really helping himself. And that is much more likely if gas prices are low in the spring of 2027.

Which, again, is why Trump is not planning or hoping to blow up the deal with Iran once the election is over. Iran might blow it up, or Israel might do something that blows it up (though they're not technically a party and their own election is a huge wild card in all this). But Trump needs "normal" gas prices for a lot longer than just through November 2026.