Donald Trump, the dictator-in-training, is just getting started.

Mostly locked up in the White House, as Jan. 20 draws nearer, the Florida resident tells us what makes him tick.

Each tick and tock, by itself, may not make enough noise to alarm folks. However, several news reports paint a picture that ought to worry Americans who want to wish our democracy a Happy New Year.

The first remark came two months ago, when Trump was campaigning for reelection. He told a mainly white audience in Minnesota that they have “good genes.”  A subtle dog whistle to racism?  No way. Our outgoing leader sometimes communes with the ghost of George Wallace when he speaks.

But why stop there?  Check Google. Trump has made similar comments over the years about the importance of being born into the correct gene pool.

For example, sample his “horserace” view of being born with the right stuff.

A 2016 report notes that “the Republican presidential nominee’s biographer Michael D’Antonio claimed the candidate’s father, Fred Trump, had taught him that the family’s success was genetic.

“He said: ‘The family subscribes to a racehorse theory of human development.’

“They believe that there are superior people and that if you put together the genes of a superior woman and a superior man, you get a superior offspring.”

I’m no fan of horse racing, so I’ll slur the breed by noting that Trump is stomping all over our patriotic American heart.  He acts as if he owns it; leaving behind divots and steaming turds.  Will his GOP followers know what to do with the parting gifts when Joe Biden becomes president?

Of course, Trump knows how to appear to be a man of the people, even though he professes to be a billionaire.

This means Trump the devil took a NASCAR ride down to Georgia to tell a GOP crowd, “We was robbed. We’re all victims, y’all.”

According to Newsweek, “At the rally, Donald Trump said, “We’re all victims. Everybody here. All these thousands of people here tonight. They’re all victims. Every one of you.” It was a reference to his repeated claims that the election was stolen from him by widespread voter fraud, even though his legal team has been unable to prove it in nearly 40 court cases.

I find this trash talk dispiriting, if not alarming, although the 74 million who voted for Trump on Nov. 3 may not mind.

That’s a significant following – 74 million – to work with on future grievance projects.  Maybe that’s why the outgoing president served up some holiday delight for those who take him seriously, if not literally.

Various media outlets tell us Trump has asked Republican legislative leaders in at least a few states to toss out the votes of citizens who made Biden the winner in their states. He wants the GOP crowd of pols to anoint electors who will install Trump for a second term as president.

Mainstream types and people with years of learning and experience tell us this plot won’t work.  After all, the cracked up, Covid-19-carrying Trump legal team keeps losing the crazy lawsuits they file.

But Trump the scammer is laying the groundwork for his next con.

Filing frivolous lawsuits and making pleas to local elected supplicants set the stage for his next act, which comes as he faces possible indictment and the threat of having to repay someone, somewhere, close to $500 million.

So he is planning his next big score. Trump is already amassing a list of naughty Republicans who have not backed his denial of reality.

It comes as no surprise that Trump the Scrooge knows how to treat timid pols who won’t do his bidding. He is raising money, lots of money, since his November defeat.

Wanna bet he will be doing more than playing golf when he moves back to Mar-a-Lago?

All that cash will help him spread more lies and attack more American institutions and weak political leaders next year.

Trump is not waging war on Christmas; he is waging war on American democracy.

Will we let him get away with it?

Maybe not, if we listen to Ray Charles sing “America the Beautiful” this holiday season.  Nothing else seems to tame the trampled heart of Trump and his fellow victims.