<p>An enraged Donald Trump helicoptered off the White House lawn for one of the last times in his presidency Wednesday, leaving Americans chaos as a Christmas present.</p>.<p>The Republican was bound with his wife Melania for a vacation at his lavish Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.</p>.<p>From Marine One, the first couple must have got a magnificent view on a clear, wintry day of the White House, decorated in chocolate box fashion with Christmas wreaths and red ribbons at every window.</p>.<p>But with the clock ticking to Joe Biden's January 20 inauguration, there won't be too many more occasions to enjoy the experience.</p>.<p>And Trump, consumed by election conspiracy theories, abandoned by allies and determined to take opponents down with him, is not exactly in a merry mood.</p>.<p>Crises engulf the man supporters call "disrupter in chief" ("chaos president" to his critics.)</p>.<p>What's more, most of them are of his own making:</p>.<p>- Trying to overturn the result of the election.</p>.<p>- Unexpectedly refusing to sign a massive economic relief bill for Americans struggling from coronavirus fallout, insisting at the last moment that it be rewritten.</p>.<p>- Choosing to say nothing, other than to play it down, about what senior officials and members of Congress describe as a devastating Russian cyberattack.</p>.<p>- Vetoing just before he left for Florida the bill funding the US military.</p>.<p>- Declaring war on top members of his own party who dare concede that Biden won.</p>.<p>Yet for all his bluster, the larger than life showman who for four years held the media, his party and the entire country in thrall now cuts a diminished figure.</p>.<p>Normally, the departure on Marine One from the South Lawn of the White House has been a favourite stage for Trump to act out his flamboyant press conference/performance art routine.</p>.<p>Boasting, ad-libbing, entertaining and insulting, Trump used to love nothing more than "chopper talk" with journalists jostling to hear the world's biggest media star against the roar of an idling military helicopter.</p>.<p>But since losing the November 3 election and embarking on a desperate mission to reverse the result, Trump has almost vanished from public engagements.</p>.<p>His last extended Q&A with journalists was a bad-tempered Thanksgiving encounter on November 26.</p>.<p>The once epic Marine One departures have been whittled down to the perfunctory exercise of a man catching a ride to the airport. With Covid-19 restrictions, only around a dozen journalists can attend the sessions anyway, meaning that even if Trump decides to stop and talk, the old, manic energy is gone.</p>.<p>Wednesday, he just walked past.</p>.<p>Officially scheduled meetings inside the White House -- exceedingly rare since the election -- are held off-camera, unlike before, when Trump routinely invited in reporters.</p>.<p>Even Tuesday night's bombshell threat to nix the Covid relief package was made in a pre-recorded video posted on Twitter, out of sight of the White House press corps.</p>.<p>Many explanations are being thrown around for Trump's extraordinary post-election behaviour.</p>.<p>Ardent supporters say Trump is simply exercising the legal right to pursue his claim -- however far-fetched -- that "IT WAS A RIGGED ELECTION!!!" as he tweeted Tuesday.</p>.<p>Ardent critics, citing talk by a Trump ally of bringing in the military to rerun the election, say he is a wannabe dictator.</p>.<p>A less dramatic appraisal is that Trump is just following his salesman's instincts. Determined to keep his brand alive post-January, Trump is cynically doing what he does best: hogging the limelight, outraging the establishment and delighting his passionate base.</p>.<p>But this week an intriguing fourth option was suggested by influential, Trump-supporting televangelist Pat Robertson:</p>.<p>That Trump inhabits "an alternate reality" in which he genuinely believes everything he says.</p>.<p>"He really does," Robertson explained Monday on the Christian Broadcasting Network.</p>.<p>"People say, 'Well he lies about this, that and the other.' But he isn't lying," Robertson said.</p>.<p>"To him, that's the truth."</p>
<p>An enraged Donald Trump helicoptered off the White House lawn for one of the last times in his presidency Wednesday, leaving Americans chaos as a Christmas present.</p>.<p>The Republican was bound with his wife Melania for a vacation at his lavish Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.</p>.<p>From Marine One, the first couple must have got a magnificent view on a clear, wintry day of the White House, decorated in chocolate box fashion with Christmas wreaths and red ribbons at every window.</p>.<p>But with the clock ticking to Joe Biden's January 20 inauguration, there won't be too many more occasions to enjoy the experience.</p>.<p>And Trump, consumed by election conspiracy theories, abandoned by allies and determined to take opponents down with him, is not exactly in a merry mood.</p>.<p>Crises engulf the man supporters call "disrupter in chief" ("chaos president" to his critics.)</p>.<p>What's more, most of them are of his own making:</p>.<p>- Trying to overturn the result of the election.</p>.<p>- Unexpectedly refusing to sign a massive economic relief bill for Americans struggling from coronavirus fallout, insisting at the last moment that it be rewritten.</p>.<p>- Choosing to say nothing, other than to play it down, about what senior officials and members of Congress describe as a devastating Russian cyberattack.</p>.<p>- Vetoing just before he left for Florida the bill funding the US military.</p>.<p>- Declaring war on top members of his own party who dare concede that Biden won.</p>.<p>Yet for all his bluster, the larger than life showman who for four years held the media, his party and the entire country in thrall now cuts a diminished figure.</p>.<p>Normally, the departure on Marine One from the South Lawn of the White House has been a favourite stage for Trump to act out his flamboyant press conference/performance art routine.</p>.<p>Boasting, ad-libbing, entertaining and insulting, Trump used to love nothing more than "chopper talk" with journalists jostling to hear the world's biggest media star against the roar of an idling military helicopter.</p>.<p>But since losing the November 3 election and embarking on a desperate mission to reverse the result, Trump has almost vanished from public engagements.</p>.<p>His last extended Q&A with journalists was a bad-tempered Thanksgiving encounter on November 26.</p>.<p>The once epic Marine One departures have been whittled down to the perfunctory exercise of a man catching a ride to the airport. With Covid-19 restrictions, only around a dozen journalists can attend the sessions anyway, meaning that even if Trump decides to stop and talk, the old, manic energy is gone.</p>.<p>Wednesday, he just walked past.</p>.<p>Officially scheduled meetings inside the White House -- exceedingly rare since the election -- are held off-camera, unlike before, when Trump routinely invited in reporters.</p>.<p>Even Tuesday night's bombshell threat to nix the Covid relief package was made in a pre-recorded video posted on Twitter, out of sight of the White House press corps.</p>.<p>Many explanations are being thrown around for Trump's extraordinary post-election behaviour.</p>.<p>Ardent supporters say Trump is simply exercising the legal right to pursue his claim -- however far-fetched -- that "IT WAS A RIGGED ELECTION!!!" as he tweeted Tuesday.</p>.<p>Ardent critics, citing talk by a Trump ally of bringing in the military to rerun the election, say he is a wannabe dictator.</p>.<p>A less dramatic appraisal is that Trump is just following his salesman's instincts. Determined to keep his brand alive post-January, Trump is cynically doing what he does best: hogging the limelight, outraging the establishment and delighting his passionate base.</p>.<p>But this week an intriguing fourth option was suggested by influential, Trump-supporting televangelist Pat Robertson:</p>.<p>That Trump inhabits "an alternate reality" in which he genuinely believes everything he says.</p>.<p>"He really does," Robertson explained Monday on the Christian Broadcasting Network.</p>.<p>"People say, 'Well he lies about this, that and the other.' But he isn't lying," Robertson said.</p>.<p>"To him, that's the truth."</p>