"Until"

No, that's the goal. I'm firmly convinced that Trump knows his rabid cult gives him a semblance of credible threat; if you attack him, you are guaranteed mobs of death threats and harassment at best, and the very real possibility that one of them will actually come for you.

He's going to milk that for all it's worth in hopes that people will start fearing him enough to stop criticizing him. He wants everyone to shut up and stop talking about his crimes so he can go back to attention whoring in peace (which is the whole reason he ran for president; illicit self-enrichment and publicity). The only thing separating him from a more traditional dictator is that he doesn't have total control for now.