But in many ways, this hardly matters. Although Trump failed to overturn the result of the 2020 election, his efforts weren’t entirely futile. He succeeded in maintaining control of his party, which has largely backed his claims, and has managed to reinvigorate his base of supporters, who are primed for a Trump presidential bid in 2024. Perhaps most damaging of all, he successfully convinced millions of Americans that their electoral process can no longer be trusted. By following in Trump’s footsteps, world leaders might not be able to retain power, but they can at the very least create a new wave of grievance—one that they and their allies can ride into the next election, and the next, and the next.

This is what many Trumpian world leaders appear to be counting on. In anticipation of a close race, and facing the emergence of a united opposition, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has already begun the process of undermining the results of next year’s contest. Electoral interference “will happen,” Orbán told the Fox News host Tucker Carlson in August. “We are aware of that and we are prepared for that.”

This is Trump’s global legacy. By sowing distrust in democracy at home, the American president designed a blueprint that like-minded leaders have been able to follow. Whether they are successful or not is immaterial. As far as Trump and his playbook are concerned, electoral concessions, and the notion that democracy depends on every candidate’s willingness to lose gracefully, are a thing of the past. Elections come and go, but grievance is forever.