By close of business, Trump had taken strides toward the presidency he's always wanted: one of unfiltered authority flowing from the presidential Sharpie, shredding traditional institutions and providing a platform for demagoguery. Blanche was with Trump in some of his darkest moments as he faced multiple criminal and civil charges before winning back the White House. Some Trump subordinates, like former Attorney General Pam Bondi, stumbled when striving to prove their loyalty. Some of the institutionalists who Trump disdains warned on Monday evening that his increasingly unchecked presidency is dangerous. Explaining his vaccine policy, he seemed both to encapsulate his attitude to unchecked power and to tempt fate.