A chance for Trump to make money, too. His family is believed to be exploring the creation of a new television network. Programming would likely be limited at first to Trump’s monologues and some cheap reality TV – but the size of his vote in the primaries suggests an audience exists. Again, this is not a first. The Sarah Palin Channel, a subscription service, launched in 2014 … and shut down in 2015.

Most failed presidential tickets fade away or “retire” into regular political service – as John Kerry did when he later became Secretary of State. But what can a candidate who has no party influence, no obvious fallback option, do next? Trump, like Palin, may choose to continue his presidential campaign through the press and speeches. To engage in a constant excavation of his defeat – threatening to do it all over again.