President Trump will just fade out.
He will leave the White House before January 20.
Of course, he will not follow the tradition of riding with the incoming President from the White House to the Capitol.
He will skip the Inauguration because he knows that the Secret Service could not assure him of his safety. Some Dems in the massive crowd would be less than charitable if he were to show his face. I assume that Mr. and Mrs. Obama will be on the Capitol steps, a move that will elicit noise-deafening cheers. And, of course, when the Vice President-elect takes her oath, the millions of people in the crowd will go bananas with happiness & pride.
Meanwhile, former President Trump will be playing golf in Florida and planning on returning to business.
I think you are perhaps right about Trump eventually fading out. I hope so. But I think it would be better (for his own future as well) if he had the courage and strength of character to do something symbolic like “riding with the incoming President from the White House to the Capitol.”
An interesting question about Pence. He strikes me as the kind of man and shrewd politician who could step up and urge civility in a transition. Maybe I’m just dreaming. Of course everything depends on the next month or so and if future ballot lawsuits, “investigations” and challenges prove as empty as the past ones. If they do prove a bust as I expect, a civil transfer of power will be absolutely called for, and much better for the country as a whole.