Published Ahead-of-Time (with Urgency) by The Atlantic > A Story by Barton Gellman

Red Lights are blinking: DANGER AHEAD

Let us not hedge about one thing. Donald Trump may win or lose, but he will never concede.

Editor’s Note: This story appears in the November issue of The Atlantic; we’ve published it early on our website because of its urgency. Subscribers to the print magazine can expect to receive the issue in mid-October.

"There is a cohort of close observers of our presidential elections, scholars and lawyers and political strategists, who find themselves in the uneasy position of intelligence analysts in the months before 9/11. As November 3 approaches, their screens are blinking red, alight with warnings that the political system does not know how to absorb. They see the obvious signs that we all see, but they also know subtle things that most of us do not. Something dangerous has hove into view, and the nation is lurching into its path. 

The Election That Could Break America

If the vote is close, Donald Trump could easily throw the election into chaos and subvert the result. Who will stop him?

• Story by Barton Gellman