Reasons why this seems like a coup attempt:
1) Team Trump and Republican ally refusal to recognize the election outcome and cooperate with the transition
2) surge of key firings and installing nutty loyalists
3) lies and propaganda, including the lawsuits doomed to fail, to whip up the base
4) going ahead with plans as though there’s a second term

Reasons why this seems like an ineffectual one or just a classic Trump disrupt and distract ploy to undermine the next regime and cash in–he’s raising lots of donations on this.
1) Most of the world’s most powerful nations have recognized the Biden/Harris win. One of the hallmarks of Trump is that he has never understood that the power of the president was not vested in the individual, it was systemic, with him as only a node on a network. WIthout the network he’s nothing. He may retain command over part of the network; other parts will not recognize or obey unlawful orders.
2) Most of the states wil not back down on their election tallies and will recognize the overwhelming popular vote win. This might be when our patchwork 50-state system is good. And state militias not under federal control.
3) Media finally strongly refusing to cooperate with lies
4) Despite the goons being installed at the top, the military leadership overall loathes and despises Trump (you may not agree with their principles but they have some and he’s an affront to them)
5) Intellligence agencies ditto
6) The rest is up to ordinary people to strongly voice resistance in every way possible, including preparing for nonviolent direct action. Civil society is the great check on overreaches of institutional authority.
What we have learned from four years of Trump is that you can be both an incompetent clown and very dangerous. Whatever the end goal, this is attempting to push the system to the breaking point and further authoritarian goals of undermining checks and balances and belief in institutions. Notably elections, the foundation of a democracy. It is an absolute disregard of the law and another attempt to wreck the nation for the benefit of the junta.

From Daniel Hunter’s/Waging Nonviolence’s Ten Things You Know to Stop a Coup:
Know that coups have been stopped by regular folks.
Coup attempts have happened all over the world, and over half have failed. That’s because coups are hard to orchestrate. They are a violation of norms that require quick seizure of multiple levels of institutions with a claim that they are the rightful heir.
Coups tend to fail when government institutions (like elections) are trusted, there is an active citizenry and other nations are ready to become involved.
The role of citizenry is crucial. That’s because during the period right after a coup attempt— when the new government is claiming it is the “real” government — all the institutions have to decide who to listen to.
To start preparing, talk to at least 5 people who would go into the streets with you — the safest way to take to the streets is with people you know and trust.
The moments after a coup are moments for heroism amongst the general population. It’s how we make democracy real.
In all the research on preventing coups, there’s one common theme: People stop doing what the coup plotters tell them to do.