America has never had a presumptive nominee like Donald Trump

CNN —

Donald Trump has put America on notice – his second term would be even more disruptive and turbulent than his first.

The new presumptive Republican nominee booked his place in a general election rematch with President Joe Biden when his distant, last-remaining rival Nikki Haley conceded to reality and suspended her campaign on Wednesday.

The triumph of the once and possibly future president – an incredible comeback given his attempt to steal the 2020 election and a crush of criminal and civil trials threatening his liberty and fortune – sets up one of the most fateful elections in American history. His demonstrated record of contempt for democratic institutions means that the country’s political, legal and constitutional guardrails are facing a severe new test from a GOP candidate who could be a convicted felon by Election Day and who may see restored executive power as a tool to thwart federal prosecutions.

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And Trump’s return to the threshold of the presidency will send shockwaves around a world still recovering from his volatile leadership and affinity for autocrats and send a warning to Ukraine, a nation fighting for its survival.

The reason Trump is so different from a traditional candidate is that he’s not campaigning as a fresh new voice pulsating with optimism for the future or brimming with policy ideas to bring the nation together. He’s portraying America as a dystopian, failed state overwhelmed by lawlessness, urban blight and slipping toward World War III abroad. In a classic trope of dictators, he’s promising to flush out enemies within, vowing revenge on political foes and posing as a strongman while conflating his own