In this intermediate scenario, Trump emulates his new hero, Viktor Orban, to create a political system that is stacked against his opponents. The civil service is purged; the military and our universities are brought completely under control; gerrymandering continues; culture war enemies are completely vanquished; and the left-leaning MSM are crushed by defamation suits and regulatory harassment. The reactionary judiciary blesses it all. Orban would be proud.
The problem with this approach is that support for liberal democracy is more entrenched here than in Hungary. Can Trump really force Jeff Bezos to sell the WaPo to a right-wing supporter? Can he find enough reactionary professors to turn our elite universities around? Will the apolitical military go quietly? Can blue state governments be brought under control without the use of force? I doubt it.
This would be a long, grinding process. Observers of the Hungarian descent have projected that it will take at least a decade. Trump doesn’t have that much time. As a result, Option 3 makes more sense for him.