Trump’s Civil War, Summer to Fall 2020: Barricaded in the White House

The impeachment process has come and gone; in a stunning upset, President Trump is convicted by the Republican-held Senate.

Fuming, Trump takes to Twitter, Fox, and any other sympathetic outlet to boldly declare he will go nowhere — and calls on his followers to come protect him from the Deep State coup now underway. A few hundred take up his offer: they surrounded the White House itself almost immediately. Many are armed. As U.S. Marshals gear up to arrest Trump, a budding MAGA militia takes over the White House, expels the Secret Service, and becomes an informal presidential guard.

It’s the Bundy Ranch crisis, but worse. Hundreds of MAGA supporters continue to stream to D.C. Without the Secret Service to secure the grounds, they build out a camp around the White House. As the Marshals arrive, they find themselves facing a motley assortment of well-armed and ill-tempered Trump supporters who will not let them pass. Meanwhile, Vice President Pence pours fuel on the fire by refusing to take the oath of office — setting off another constitutional crisis.

Nobody wants this to become another Waco, especially in the White House. Trump says he will appeal to the Supreme Court; that buys him a few days as Congress lets the pointless process play out. Congress, the Marshals, and the FBI try to reach out to negotiate a peaceful end to the crisis with Trump himself.