'Refuse to bow down': Rick Wilson shares theory on how Trump will destroy himself

President-elect Donald Trump will face resistance every step of the way in his plan to reshape America in his image, just as he did last time, Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson told Salon's Chauncey DeVega — and just as important, he will be his own demise.

This comes as Trump's unified GOP government is already fraying at the edges before it has fully taken power in D.C., with House and Senate Republicans bickering with each other and Trump already triggering outrage for his praise of a far-right lawyer charged with felonies in multiple states for trying to overthrow the 2020 presidential election.

While the failure to stop Trump from winning a second term was "disappointing," Wilson told DeVega, "This country remains very evenly split and Trump doesn’t have nearly the mandate that his minions are trying to portray." And "the end-of-the-year budget battle where Trump and Musk threw a wrench into the works at the last second without any regard for the consequences" shows just how hard a time they will have imposing their will on the country.

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"As Inauguration Day grows closer, we are gearing up for another fight and plan to take it to Trump every single day," said Wilson. "We will contest his insane cabinet picks and continue to tell the world when the emperor’s not wearing any pants. We refuse to bow down to an undemocratic administration. The future of the nation remains at stake. We already see Trump trying to silence the media and push corporations into not opposing his plans. Someone needs to step into the void and rally the opposition."

All of this, he said, will be motivated by stopping the "nightmare scenario" of Trump getting to enact economy-destroying tariffs, mass deportations that ensnare even some U.S. citizens, and rolling over for Vladimir Putin to conquer Ukraine and threaten the NATO alliance.

While Trump will run into public resistance on these things, Wilson concluded, he will also run into his own worst instincts.

"Trump cannot help himself. He’s an agent of chaos who has to inject himself into every story, whether it’s helpful or not. He nearly derailed the budget to cause a shutdown and weakened Johnson even more. He empowered Musk and is now upset he’s stealing the spotlight and his influence," said Wilson. "And as always, I remain hopeful that the American people will see the terrible consequences and push back to correct his oversteps."