What has happened to the fiery Donald Trump who has bedeviled his detractors and awed his followers with his bombast? Now that he’s at the cusp of becoming a former White House occupant, President Trump is maybe? perhaps? mellowing a wee bit.

Examples of a possible change in attitude appeared late on Monday, when Trump met with Vice President Mike Pence for the first time in five days. The meeting came out-of-the-blue, since Trump became livid after Pence did not intervene last Wednesday to stop certification of electoral votes for Joe Biden.

Trump had really put the squeeze on Mike Pence. “It will be bad for you and the country if you don’t,” Trump reportedly told Pence.

Not only did he repeatedly call Pence, but he had people like Rudy Giuliani, Peter Navarro, and Sidney Powell pressure him, too.

Pence, however, remained unconvinced. He then consulted his own legal staff. And Pence’s chief of staff, Marc Short, warned him that he risked the wrath of Trump.

Constitutionally, however, Mike Pence was correct. At his blog Legal Insurrection, conservative Cornell law professor William Jacobson wrote:

“. . . unreliable commentators picked up on the notion that Mike Pence could just reject electoral votes, something completely contrary to the plain wording of the Constitution. Neither Pence, nor even any of the Republican Senators willing to challenge the result through the congressional statutory process, took the position that Pence had such power.”

Despite the pressure, Mike Pence stuck by the law.

Later, when the Vice President was hiding from rabid Trump supporters storming the Capitol, Trump tweeted out:

“Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!”

So he cut off communications with his Veep for nearly a week.

But on Monday, the band got back together in the Oval Office.

The news seemed to surprise some in the media. Was Trump mellowing towards his Vice President?

Monday also brought additional news about the possible mellowing of Trump.

During a two-hour-plus conference call with GOP members of the House, Rep. Kevin McCarthy told Republicans that President Trump is taking some responsibility for the Capitol riots last Wednesday. What’s more, McCarthy, House Minority Leader and one of Trump’s closest allies, told members that he urged Trump to call and congratulate Biden, too.

President Trump with Rep. Kevin McCarthy. TheWhiteHouse/flickr/public domain.

That’s a stark contrast to the bombastic president the nation saw last week.

So why the change? Is Trump really mellowing?

Does it bother him to see so many members of his team bail on him? Like Cabinet members Betsy DeVos and Elaine Chao? And most recently, acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf?

Even New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, a friend of Trump, declined the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He cited the Capitol riots as his reason.

Or is Trump more concerned about his legacy?

President Trump, in his four short years, has accomplished a lot. He’s rebuilt the military, killed off ISIS, and launched the Space Force. He established a peace agreement between the UAE and Israel. A recently released report from Australia shows how Trump’s National Security Agency had strategized with India and Australia to contain China.

Here at home, the economy was surging, until, of course, a pandemic changed its trajectory. And what other president could’ve brought the nation a COVID vaccine as rapidly as Trump did with Operation Warp Speed?

However, the Capitol riots have changed everything. Now — thanks especially to the Democrats and the media — that’s all the nation associates with Trump.

But you know who has stood by the President?

Mike Pence. Throughout his four years serving as Trump’s second-hand-man, Pence would daily spend hours with his Boss. He would defend some of Trump’s most outrageous comments, and refused to speak ill of him, even to his closest advisers.

So Pence and Trump met on Monday, perhaps for the last time. But who knows? maybe a more affable Trump might someday invite Mike Pence and his wife Karen to Mar-a-Lago.

Meanwhile, Pence can sleep well at night. As his chief of staff Marc Short texted him on Thursday morning, while Trump was still furious:

“2 Timothy 4:7. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

Featured image: Gage Skidmore/flickr/cropped/CC BY-SA 2.0.