All US presidents ultimately end as “lame ducks”. This usually happens in the last year or two of their second term, when they can neither be re-elected nor accomplish much.

Then, it’s no longer fashionable to be seen consorting with the sitting president; the only people still keen to come to the White House are either those asking for pardons from criminal convictions or those old donors who have yet to get some presidential medal. Distancing oneself from a presidency about to expire is an essential tactic in American politics.