That split screen of contrasting presidential trajectories is growing ever more vivid. One leader is steadily gathering power, building an administration and making policy proclamations; the other is seeing his power ebb even as he angrily insists he won an election that, a growing number of allies admit, he clearly lost.

It has made for a transition like no other, as two leaders simultaneously try to project the aura of the presidency.

“You have one who is refusing to not just concede defeat, but admit reality,” longtime Republican strategist Doug Heye said. If a presidential transition is a delicate dance, he added, in this case Biden does not have a partner, because “the other person is not even admitting any music is playing.”…

Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, recently pressed Trump to prioritize getting “some last-minute wins,” one official said. But Trump mostly reacted by threatening to veto the defense bill unless Congress repeals a federal provision known as Section 230, which gives websites legal protection when damaging material is posted by others.

That, too, is related to the election results, since Trump believes Twitter and other Big Tech companies were unfair to him during the campaign. Repealing the law would open to the door for social media companies to be held legally liable for the way they police their platforms.