--- title: What Happens if Donald Trump Loses description: The parlor game at the GOP convention was on what what happen if Donald Trump lost the White House, a likely outcome based on recent polls. canonical: https://time.com/4434792/what-happens-if-donald-trump-loses/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-02T14:19:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T23:42:57.004Z article:section: Politics og:title: What Happens if Donald Trump Loses og:description: The parlor game at the GOP convention was on what what happen if Donald Trump lost the White House, a likely outcome based on recent polls. og:url: https://time.com/4434792/what-happens-if-donald-trump-loses/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Morning Must Reads og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What Happens if Donald Trump Loses twitter:description: The parlor game at the GOP convention was on what what happen if Donald Trump lost the White House, a likely outcome based on recent polls. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # What Happens if Donald Trump Loses > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Aug 2, 2016 2:19 PM UTC  The early morning sun rises behind the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC. The early morning sun rises behind the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC.Mark Wilson—Getty Images by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Aug 2, 2016 2:19 PM UTC **_If you only read one thing:_** _The parlor game at the GOP convention last month didn’t center on the possibilities for it if Donald Trump won the White House. Instead it was what would happen if he loses—the likelier outcome according to polls, at least this week. Would Trump blame the GOP establishment for being insufficiently supportive, as the RNC and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan fear? Would he blame social conservatives for staying home, as Sen. Ted Cruz has wagered? Trump offered his first clue Monday when he declared at a rally in Ohio that he feared that the election would be “rigged” against him. He offered no proof other than the Democratic National Committee’s private efforts to back Hillary Clinton in the primary revealed in the recent email hack. The suggestion that the election could be fixed marks the latest upending of electoral norms by Trump, calling into question the very legitimacy of the campaign system. After Bush v. Gore, Democrats raised hell over the notion that the 2000 campaign was undemocratically decided, but that was by a co-equal branch of government. Trump’s assertion puts another obstacle in the way of unity after this most bitter campaign, as he and his supporters lay the groundwork to declare without evidence that the White House was “stolen” from him._ Hillary Clinton raised nearly $90 million in July, including $8.7 million in the 24-hour period around when she accepted the Democratic presidential nomination last week. According to her campaign she will report holding $58 million in the bank. Trump has yet to report his numbers. Clinton spent Monday in Omaha, where she is looking to pick up Nebraska’s second congressional district’s Electoral College vote. Trump has extended the controversy over his criticism of the Khan family by yet another day, as he continued to defend his attack on the Gold Star family. While Trump may have technically been responding to a political attack, he revealed a political third rail the nation didn’t need revealing. Buffett makes Trump an offer. Trump’s take on sexual harassment in the work place. And a top Jeb Bush aide quits the GOP over Trump. _Here are your must reads:_ **Must Reads** [Inside the Koch Brothers’ Donor Summit ](http://time.com/4434301/koch-brothers-summit-colorado/)TIME’s Philip Elliott on the somber mood [Khan Confrontation Keys in on Human Decency — And That Could Haunt Trump ](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/khan-confrontation-keys-in-on-human-decency--and-that-could-haunt-trump/2016/08/01/67e6ff46-57ea-11e6-831d-0324760ca856%5Fstory.html)Comments that could be a bridge too far, even for Trump \[Washington Post\] [Why Gold Star Parents Are the New Third Rail in Politics ](http://time.com/4434128/donald-trump-khizr-khan-gold-star-parents/)TIME’s Mark Thompson explains what didn’t use to need explanation [Donald Trump’s Draft Deferments: Four for College, One for Bad Feet ](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/02/us/politics/donald-trump-draft-record.html?%5Fr=0)Questions linger as Trump talks sacrifice \[New York Times\] [Trump’s Trap: GOP Nominee Can’t Let Go of Perceived Slights ](http://bigstory.ap.org/093eb36a30ec4c4db1f7fce42273a07f)The counterpuncher is his own worst enemy \[Associated Press\] [Trump Says He Hopes Ivanka Would Quit If She Got Harassed ](http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2016/08/01/ailes-trump-sexual-harassment-fox-news-women-gretchen-kelly-greta-news-column/87915454/)But not everyone has her means \[USA Today\] **Sound Off** “I’m afraid the election’s going to be rigged. I have to be honest.” — Trump at an Ohio rally Monday, laying the groundwork for delegitimizing the election “I’ll bring my tax return. He can bring his tax return.” — Warren Buffett promising to release his tax returns if Trump does the same while stumping for Clinton in Omaha **Bits and Bites** [10 Things You Might Have Thought Were in the Constitution](http://time.com/4433907/constitution-khizr-khan/) \[TIME\] [Paul Ryan Warns That Some Republicans Are Flirting With Progressivism](http://time.com/4434199/paul-ryan-koch-progressives/) \[TIME\] [President Obama Slams Donald Trump Over Gold Star Khan Family](http://time.com/4433622/president-obama-donald-trump-khizr-ghazala-khan/) \[TIME\] [Top Jeb Bush adviser leaves GOP, will vote for Clinton if Florida close](http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/01/politics/sally-bradshaw-jeb-bush-donald-trump-florida/index.html) \[CNN\] [Trump calls Hillary Clinton ‘the devil’](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/08/01/trump-calls-hillary-clinton-the-devil/) \[Washington Post\] [Mother of service member booed over Khan question at Pence rally](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/mother-of-service-member-booed-over-khan-question-at-pence-rally-226540#ixzz4G9YHAGDa) \[Politico\] [Trump fires at least 2 aides](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/trump-aide-brookover-fired-226541) \[Politico\] [Warren Buffett has an offer for Donald Trump](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2016/08/01/warren-buffett-has-offer-donald-trump/87938298/) \[USA Today\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4434792/what-happens-if-donald-trump-loses/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4434792/what-happens-if-donald-trump-loses/"},"headline":"What Happens if Donald Trump Loses","datePublished":"2016-08-02T14:19:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:42:57.004Z","description":"Morning Must Reads: August 2","url":"https://time.com/4434792/what-happens-if-donald-trump-loses/","keywords":["Morning Must Reads"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Zeke Miller","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Morning Must Reads","caption":"Capitol","creditText":"Mark Wilson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4434792/what-happens-if-donald-trump-loses/","name":"What Happens if Donald Trump Loses"}}]}] ```