I'm starting to get more and more curious as to what could potentially happen if the USA manages to have another election (doubtful at this point), and the dems actually manage to get back in.
The rightwing/trump has now 'normalised' sending in gestapo to blue states to terrorize them into obedience. They openly encourage war crimes internationally. They accept bribes with a shrug. They destroy any form of paper agreement the second the whim strikes. They have no reservations about witholding funding for things like disaster relief, based on tertiary political projects / initiatives.
Like realistically, internationally, one of the few ways I can see the USA trying to salvage what's left of their tattered reputation, would be to do the unthinkable: offer up their people for the international criminal court and allow people like Hegseth to be tried for war crimes. Internally, the steps they'd need to take to prevent a repeat "next time around with the republicans", would likely need to be equally harsh -- like impeaching/removing most of the supreme court, firing all of Trumps "loyalty" appointees and trying them, quickly, for treason. Holding ICE accountable as a terrorist organisation, leveraging terror tactics against American citizens - abolishing it entirely in the process. They'd need to hold all the epstein pedos accountable, and burn many of the rich oligarchs empires to the ground.
Those steps would almost certainly cause the 30-40% of americans who still support the republicans, to take up arms / protest more violently. When they lost an election, they tried an insurrection -- imagine what they'd do if you threw their fascist leaders in prison? But taking half-measures / apologising / forgiving the actions of the republicans during this term, would likely not be enough for the majority of non-republicans-- cause, as noted, it'll just repeat, and continue devolving.
Honestly not too sure where they go from here. It feels like it's going to be a steady, albeit somewhat drawn out, descent into civil war.