The GOP is still the party of Trump, and no matter how Republicans spin it, Trump is holding it hostage.
![Former US President Donald Trump speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Florida, US, on Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021 [Elijah Nouvelage/BLOOMBERG via GETTY IMAGES]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/GettyImages-1231446945.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
The GOP is still the party of Trump, and no matter how Republicans spin it, Trump is holding it hostage.
![Former US President Donald Trump speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Florida, US, on Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021 [Elijah Nouvelage/BLOOMBERG via GETTY IMAGES]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/GettyImages-1231446945.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
Days before his second impeachment trial, Trump’s influence over the Republican Party remains as entrenched as ever.
![Then US President Donald Trump gestures as he speaks during a rally to contest the certification of the 2020 US presidential election results by the US Congress, in Washington, DC, January 6, 2021. [Jim Bourg/File Photo/Reuters]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/2021-01-25T204623Z_1138575478_RC28FL9CGZCC_RTRMADP_3_USA-TRUMP-IMPEACHMENT.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
There are options for legal recourse against Trump, but the GOP will block them.

Trump’s goal is not to overturn the election – it is to undermine the Biden administration.
![A supporter of President Donald Trump holds a Trump 2020 flag outside the US Capitol building as they attend pro-Trump marches, on November 14, 2020 in Washington [AP/Jacquelyn Martin]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/AP_20320038475882.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
Donald Trump and his supporters are a huge political force in the US and they have defied expectations in this election.

But it is 2020, and anything can still happen.

But they do have consequences.
![Judge Amy Coney Barrett speaks during the third day of her Senate confirmation hearing to the Supreme Court on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on October 14, 2020 [Reuters/Andrew Caballero-Reynolds]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/2020-10-14T213408Z_922356637_RC2LIJ9WYX51_RTRMADP_3_USA-COURT-BARRETT.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
And ‘Mr Vice President, I’m speaking’ will have resonated with women everywhere.
![Senator Kamala Harris and Vice President Mike Pence during the vice presidential debate , D-Calif., as she answers a question during the vice presidential debate [AP Photo/Morry Gash, Pool]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/AP_20282058890857.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
His debate performance and response to Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis has been the calm amid a chaotic election cycle.
![President Donald Trump holds up his face mask during the first presidential debate. He later tested positive for COVID-19 [File: AP Photo/Julio Cortez]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/AP_20276489551203.jpg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
The US president is finding a way to turn the coronavirus into something that will rally his base.
