The Democratic Party spent the past three years telling voters that Donald Trump was a dangerous authoritarian, a literal fascist who would be a dictator on day one and whose election would mean the end of American democracy. So you would think they’d spend the few, dwindling months until he takes power working feverishly to tweak existing policies, bolster protections for vulnerable groups and Joe Biden–era policies, and generally Trump-proof the country before he comes in and gets the wrecking ball going.

You would think. Instead, Democrats and the outgoing Biden administration are devoting a disturbing amount of their energy in these final few months of Democratic governance to fueling wars around the world and handing Trump the powers he would need to crush his opposition.

Take the war in the Middle East. The Biden administration’s preelection creation of a November 12 deadline by which Israel would have to stop deliberately starving Gazans or risk jeopardizing further US military aid was a shot of hope: given the pointed date (seven days after the election), maybe Biden and his team were finally going to end US support for Israel’s heinous war, since they wouldn’t have to fear electoral or political consequences for doing so anymore.