Okay, here's A Forward View, revised, with footnotes and a few tweaks:
Forward View-Revised
Donald Trump/Mike Pence (Republican) 2017[1]
2016: def. Hillary Clinton/Tim Kaine (Democratic), Gary Johnson/William Weld(Libertarian), Jill Stein/Ajamu Baraka(Green)...
Mike Pence/Vacant (Republican) 2017-2018[2]
Mike Pence/Pat Toomey (Republican) 2018-2021[2a]
Kirsten Gillibrand/Jeff Merkley (Democratic) 2021-2028[3]
2020: def. Mike Pence/Pat Toomey (Republican), Gary Johnson/Evan McMullin (Libertarian)[3a], Jill Stein/Susan Sarandon (Green)...[3b]
2024: def. Ted Cruz/Pat Toomey(Republican)[3c], Evan McMullin/Amanda Carpenter(Conservative Alternative)[3d], Susan Sarandon/Rosa Clemente(Green)...
Kamala Harris/Julian Castro (Democratic) 2029-2033[4]
2028: def. Ben Sasse/Todd Young (Republican)[4a], Darrell Castle/Adam Baldwin(Constitution)[4b], Rosa Clemente/Nina Turner (Green)...[4c]
Marco Rubio/Dean Heller (Republican) 2033-2041[5]
2032: def. Kamala Harris/Julian Castro (Democratic), Raul Labrador/Justin Amash (Libertarian), Ajamu Baraka/Nina Turner (Green)...[5a]
2036: def. P.G. Sittenfeld/Keith Ellison(Democratic), Justine Tunney/Jim Justice (Libertarian)[5b], Ajamu Baraka/Nina Turner (Green)...
[1]Referred to as the "Chickensh*t" President in popular culture-widely reviled by Democrats, and also by some independents, for having run a campaign fuelled by racism, misogyny and other forms of prejudice, and some doubt remains to this day as to whether or not he even won entirely fairly. Just prior to his leaving, Trump suspended America's membership in NATO, despite the protests of a large number of people on both sides of the aisle; he had also started a damaging trade war with China which caused substantial problems with the global economy.
[2]The most notoriously "lame duck" President since Jimmy Carter, and rather less liked personally. During his term, the U.S. economy slipped into a fairly significant recession, and a failed Russian attempt to subvert the Baltics resulted in the global humiliation of Vladimir Putin, which caused him to relinquish the Presidency of the Russian Federation to Dmitri Medvedev in 2018(Putin would still serve as Prime Minister for a time, as he had from 2008-12). Two final significant ISIL terrorist attacks did little to salvage Pence's popularity, or that of the GOP in general, and, in 2018, the Democrats were able to acquire 51 seats in the Senate, including with a surprise victory in Texas by Julian Castro over Ted Cruz(although losing Joe Manchin in W.V. to a Republican). He ran again in 2020, but with hate crimes on the minds of many worried Americans, as well as growing displeasure over bad Republican policies, he ended up losing to well liked mainstream Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand in a 350+ EV rout, despite voter suppression efforts still being widespread. The Democrats received a total of 62 seats in the Senate, as well as a 15 seat majority in the House.
[2a]After the Democrats and several moderate Republicans filibustered Pence's initial choices of former NC governor Pat McCrory and Georgia Senator David Perdue, Pat Toomey was narrowly accepted as the VP choice in April of 2018-this, however, played to the Democrats' advantage, as they were able to snag the seat in a narrow win.
[3]Senator Gillibrand made a name for herself by becoming a public defender of civil rights, and vowed to combat hatred of all forms; that, and her selection of the highly respected Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley to be her Vice-President ensured that the Democrats would be highly rewarded for their efforts. One of the first things done was to fill the two vacancies left by the departures of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer, in December 2019 and September 2020 respectively(Scalia's seat was filled by a conservative in 2017, albeit a relatively moderate one that neither Donald Trump, Mike Pence, or the Tea Party Republicans had really wanted; this was primarily thanks to Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and a certain few other Republicans who would not support any extreme hardliners, necessitating a compromise). Also, during her first two years in office, a federal law which forced states to tweak all voter ID laws was signed into law, and actions were also taken to reinforce the Voting Rights Act, as well. Mainly because the economy had recovered so well, and the fact that Ted Cruz was almost as terrible of a candidate as Donald Trump, Gillibrand eventually won just over 400 EVs, including even narrow wins in Texas and Georgia(both states had to go through a recount, but the results were verified in fairly good order).
Domestic terrorism became a major problem during her time, and there was a major spat of generalized political violence that occurred after she won her second term: 1,800 people were killed over the next two weeks after the election, and martial law had to be declared in several states and metro areas. Nevertheless, American society held together, and President Gillibrand's approval rating topped 66% on New Year's Day, 2025.
The most significant geopolitical event of the decade may have been the attempted coup in Russia in October, 2024, that was carried out in an attempt to prevent the Just Russia candidate, Sergei Mironov, who won with 55% of the vote in the final round (Medvedev, although he successfully distanced himself from Putin's actions during that man's third term, had declined to run again) from gaining office; it failed, but not before hundreds of civilians died in the cross fire. The reunification of the two Koreas in 2025, however, was a close second, with President Gillibrand's own efforts to broker peace highly lauded by the international community.
By the time she retired, President Gillibrand had a respectable 57% approval rating, and Calif. Senator Kamala Harris was able to ride her coattails to win a respectable 360 EV majority over Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse, helped greatly by a third party spoiler effort.
[3a]Johnson and McMullin teamed up for a fusion ticket this year, managing to win 5 million votes; Utah, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho were all far closer than they were expected to be.
[3b]Actress Susan Sarandon being on the Green ticket proved to be a boon for the Green Party.
[3c]Many Republicans still ask why former VP Toomey agreed to be on the ticket in 2024.
[3d]Ted Cruz trying to out-do Trump in 2024 turned out to be a bad move-8 million people voted for McMullin and former Ted Cruz surrogate Amanda Carpenter, and for a brief time afterwards, the Conservative Alternative Party would become a threat to the GOP in several areas, especially in the Mountain West(though they also hurt the Libertarians as well)
[4]Harris was well liked, but sadly, any realistic hope she might have had of winning a second term were cut short by a major worldwide recession in 2030, and the U.S. was hit particularly hard. Harris narrowly lost to former Florida Senator Marco Rubio in 2032, when he managed to narrowly win Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Michigan in a surprise upset, gaining just over 280 EVs.
[4a]Sasse would have lost even without third party spoilers(the Constitution Party won 4.86 million votes), as he honestly just couldn't hold together a good campaign.
[4b]Yes, that Adam Baldwin, failed actor of Firefly fame.
[4c]Clemente won 4 million votes-just enough to keep Texas in the GOP column again.
[5]Marco Rubio's political philosophy had genuinely shifted since the election of Trump 16 years earlier: he had since abandoned much of the old orthodoxy on social issues, taking a far more libertarian stance, and also mellowing out on economic issues as well. Under his leadership as Chairman of the Republican Party between 2027-32(the first two of those years he spent as Senator, prior to retirement), the GOP had also purged many of the remaining Trumpist elements of the party, allowing them to do a fair bit of effective rebranding, especially with a new crop of more moderate late Gen X and Millennial politicians taking over, particularly in New England, the Rust Belt, and out West; the Republicans were able to get 54 seats in the Senate(whereas they only had 49 after 2030), and a 35 seat majority in the House. During his first term, President Rubio and moderate Republicans worked with Democrats to do the best they could to alleviate the recession, and he also approved additional funding to ATF and FBI so they could improve on their efforts to smoke out the remnants of "Alt-Right" terrorist activity in the country, particularly after an assassination attempt on popular Utah governor Evan McMullin in 2033, and another against former New York governor Zephyr Teachout in 2035.
In the 2036 elections, Rubio ran against the Democratic ticket of Ohio governor P.G. Sittenfeld and Tulsi Gabbard, and won 308 EVs, by again narrowly winning Pennsylvania, Minnesota and Michigan, thanks to swing voters; the GOP also kept a Senate majority of 51, and an 18 seat majority in the House. (Sittenfeld, though likable, was genuinely having difficulty running a good campaign)
Nothing much of note actually happened in Rubio's second term, but concerns did arise about a final surge of the far right in Eastern Europe, as the global recession of 2030 had been particularly destructive to many of these countries(to the point that Hungary and Poland actually left the E.U.), as well as in Central Asia. As of 2040, America and Russia are both keeping a watchful eye on these areas but nobody knows if or when things will go south from there.
The 2040 Presidential Election will be held be on November 6th of that year, and will be held between Republicans George P. Bush, former governor of Texas, and former Alaska Congressman Track Palin, versus Kyrsten Sinema, the left-populist former Senator and Congressperson from, and governor of Arizona, with Hollywood actress Jennifer Lawrence, who has served as a California congresswoman since 2036, as her running mate. Libertarian ex-Republican Justin Amash and Green Party candidate Rosa Clemente are also in the running.
[5a]2016's Green Party VP guy made a comeback, though Mr. Baraka had admittedly dropped some of his nuttier views from years past-some Democrats believe he may have cost them Michigan, but this seems a bit doubtful to most observers, as he only got 40,000 votes in the state, and Rubio won by 70,000.
[5b]Justine Tunney was a libertarian who claimed to be the original creator of Occupy Wall Street-nobody really listened to her for the most part, but she still won 4 million votes anyway, including a surprising 150,000 in W. Va., thanks to having former governor Jim Justice as her running mate.
