Trump knows that history has not been kind to presidents turned out of office. In the century before this election, incumbents were on the ballot 16 times and only lost on four occasions. None of the four presidents who lost — George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford and Herbert Hoover — remained a force in politics.
Trump is aware of this. He is also aware that while he remains immensely popular among large segments of the Republican base, there are plenty in the GOP who want to move on. They saw Trump more as a means to an end, rather than an end itself.