Trump is going through the worst-viewed crisis of his life, but many believe he won't crash after an election defeat.

President Donald Trump has just spent a week that couldn't be worse.

Trump has faced many ups and downs in his life and this has made him more resilient.

"He has never been in a situation where he lost in an inexorable way," said Mary Trump, Trump's niece and author of the book critical of his family.

"We wait for his life to accept reality, wait for him to admit defeat and that is something he can hardly do," said Brandy Lee, an expert in forensic psychology at Yale University.

However, when asked if Trump had a mental breakdown following the election defeat, Sam Nunberg, former Trump political aide, denied the possibility.

But many others do not share this thought.

"He's not indestructible," said Barbara Res, former Trump Organization executive vice president.

"I think Trump is having a hard time," said Tony Schwartz, author of a Trump book The Art of the Deal, adding that "these were the toughest times he's ever had.

"His fragile ego has never been this tested," said Michael Cohen, Trump's former private attorney.

What is happening to Trump right now may be a little similar to his difficult time in early 1990. Trump was mired in a divorce scandal - adultery and faced up to three debts.

That spring, Trump laid out burgers and chips and sat in bed, staring at the ceiling, according to Vanity Fair.

He sat at his desk and searched for his name in periodicals.

"Did he collapse or not? No. He didn't," said Hank Sheinkopf, senior Democrat strategist.

However, Trump then had a strong foundation to overcome the crisis, thanks in large part to his father's large fortune.

When Brian Kilmeade of Fox News last week asked Trump if Trump would attend his inauguration on January 20, Trump said "I don't want to talk about this."

"We did a great job. I have won more votes than any other president in the history of our country. Nearly 75 million, more than Obama, more than anyone. And they say they are."

"He will continue to frame the thought that he has won, I have been cheated, I am a victim and continue to bend reality as much as possible," said Gwenda Blair, the biographer.

"You have to remember that Trump doesn't see things your way. He sees things in a distorted reality in his favor. For now, he can still embrace that distorted reality because he still wakes up at home.

However, Mark Smaller, the former president of the American Psychoanalysis Association, does not expect Trump to collapse after losing the White House to Joe Biden.

"He will not disappear, because this is his psychological lifeblood," Lee said and emphasized "for him, it is a matter of the survival of the soul".