Reprinted with permission from Alternet

Could an autogolpe happen in the United States next month? With President Donald Trump's level of unpredictability, top government officials are on edge as they brace for what he could possibly do next. However, insiders have reported that the Secret Service has no plan of counteraction in place if President Donald Trump refuses to leave the White House in January, according to The Daily Beast.

The publication recently pressed a number of top officials, consisting of "Secret Service presidential details, agency heads, and military planners," for a rundown on the seemingly impossible scenarios that could very well come to fruition given Trump's record of pursuing the "unbelievable."

Many refused to speak publicly for fear they would "encourage President Donald Trump to cross a line that authorities haven't conceived of."

However, top-ranking government officials laid out two problematic scenarios that may arise in January: "One is: Will there be a question about who the president really is? The other: What happens if, in a fit of pique, the former president simply will not vacate the seat of American government."

"What if he sits down at the Resolute Desk and dares someone to physically remove him? What if he occupies a couch in the residence? The harm here is real, beyond how ridiculous the performance would look to the rest of the world: A functional president requires a functioning office."

One former Secret Service official, who opted to remain anonymous, shared where he would begin to approach the issue. "I'd have a conversation with the chief of staff, and then the family, Ivanka, and the other kids, and say, it's going to be your job to make sure he's gone."

Another alternative could be to use his staff against him, according to one former official. "When the staff leaves on January 19, don't let them back into the complex the next day, another former official said. "He can't do anything without his staff."

"I really think it would be up the Republican Party if he were to try something like that," a second former official said. "The Service and the military would just not want to get involved. It's not our role."

A former Secret Service agent disagreed, noting Trump's refusal to leave the White House would make him, by law, "a trespasser."

"We'd have to escort him out," they said.