👑 Trump's Third Term?
Peter Rothpletz on Donald Trump's brazen push to secure a 3rd (forever?) term, the White House's transformation into a Saddam Hussein-style palace, and the bombshell NBA gambling indictments.
🐭🏰 On this day in 1947, Mickey Mouse’s Big Cheese himself, Walt Disney, testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee, ratting out artists and animators on strike as potential communists.
Top of the morning! Peter here with many thoughts about this inaugural week of the First Draft newsletter. Chief among them: what the heck was Mehdi Hasan thinking giving me access to all your inboxes? I hope you’ve enjoyed my references to comic books, Star Wars, and Saturday morning cartoons this week, because believe me, there are a lot more coming. That’s less of a promise than a threat 😈.
In today’s First Draft, Steve Bannon vows Donald Trump will seek and secure an unconstitutional third term, disgraced crypto billionaire Changpeng Zhao nabs a pardon, new polling shows Graham Platner holding a commanding lead in Maine’s Democratic Senate primary, and some recommendations for weekend reads.
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‘He’s Gonna Get a Third Term’
“You won’t have to vote anymore.”
That was what Donald Trump proclaimed to a group of conservative Christians at Turning Point Action’s West Palm Beach “Believers Summit” in July of last year. “Get out and vote, just this time. You won’t have to do it anymore. Four more years, you know what, it will be fixed, it will be fine, you won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians.”
The audience responded with a standing ovation.
I recall being gobsmacked at the time. It was utterly surreal. Did I just hear what I thought I heard? Fifteen months later, the answer is unambiguously yes.
Since taking his second oath of office, the president has displayed “Trump 2028” hats in Oval Office meetings, posted multiple AI generated images and videos of himself donning crowns and monarchical attire, quipped to the president of Azerbaijan – an actual dictator – “everybody wants me to run,” and told NBC News he is “not joking” about finding a way around the 22nd Amendment of the US Constitution, which prohibits anyone from being elected Commander in Chief more than twice.
If such a plot were revealed via some leaked memo or secret dossier, the press would be apoplectic. But because Trump and his allies are so brazen, so shameless, so pornographically naked about their desire to install the Orange God King as a dictator, the Fourth Estate just can’t seem to believe what’s happening before their very eyes.
Or even care.
Yesterday, former Trump adviser and human-shaped mass of bedbugs Steve Bannon sat for an interview with the Economist.
“He’s gonna get a third term,” Bannon asserted. “Trump is gonna be president in ‘28, and people just sort of [need to] get accommodated with that.”
“There’s many different alternatives. At the appropriate time, we’ll lay out what the plan is, but there’s a plan.”
Trump, Bannon explained, is “a vehicle of divine providence.”
“He’s not perfect,” Bannon continued, “He’s not churchy, not particularly religious, but he’s an instrument of divine will.”
Take a look at how the creature from the black lagoon responded to Mehdi late last night…
Forgive me, but how in the world is this not on the front page of every American newspaper, leading every cable news show, and right smack dab in the middle of every legacy media homepage? Why are we, at Zeteo, the only folks leading with this insane story? Does the end of America’s constitutional republic on the eve of its 250th birthday not merit banner headlines or ‘breaking news’ chyrons?
Sure, Donald Trump rants and raves about a whole host of things that never come to pass. His chief criminal consigliere? Not so much.
The president and his cronies are openly bragging about ending the American democratic experiment. This could very well be the biggest story in this country’s history, and the press isn’t merely asleep at the wheel; they’re effectively drunk driving in the wrong direction. (Mamdani! Platner! Shutdown!)
Sure, this week, they’ve done some solid reporting on Trump’s desecration of the East Wing of the White House. They haven’t taken the next logical step in asking themselves WHY the president is clearly intent on spending hundreds of millions of dollars to turn 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue into a replica of Mar-a-Lago?
A man does not renovate a home he plans to leave.
🗞️ What You Need to Know
Gambling scheme exposed: Over 30 people, including the Portland Trail Blazers’s head coach and a Miami Heat player, were arrested for allegedly rigging sports bets and poker games to rake in millions of dollars. The name of the federal investigation? “Operation Royal Flush.”
Trump threatens Bibi: The US president told Time magazine that annexation of the occupied West Bank “won’t happen because I gave my word to the Arab countries,” adding: “Israel would lose all of its support from the United States if that happened.” (Trump’s word, of course, is notoriously reliable?!)
Trump whines about a Canadian TV ad: The US president said he was ending “all trade negotiations” with Canada because of a Canadian television ad opposing US tariffs.
Corruption junction: Eric Adams endorsed Andrew Cuomo, a man whom he recently dubbed a “snake” and a “liar,” in the New York City mayoral race. SHOCKER!
Trump stands down on San Francisco: Trump announced he will be holding off on deploying federal forces to San Francisco because some rich Silicon Valley friends of his apparently asked him to, and after speaking with the city’s mayor.
Foxy lady: Veteran media journalist Oliver Darcy reported Bari Weiss is strongly considering Fox News’s Bret Baier as the new anchor of ‘CBS Evening News.’ All I can say is LMAO.
🔎 Trump Corruption Watch
Donald Trump’s pardon party just got bigger.
Disgraced Binance founder Changpeng Zhao is the latest corrupt billionaire to be pardoned by Donald Trump after he pleaded guilty to money laundering-related charges in 2023.
US prosecutors argued that under Zhao’s watch, the cryptocurrency exchange became a hub for terrorists and human traffickers – among other nefarious actors – to transfer money. Zhao spent only four months in prison despite prosecutors seeking a three-year sentence.
The pardon was another win for Zhao, who spent months lobbying the administration and making the Trump family even richer by aligning Binance with World Liberty Financial, the crypto company launched by Trump and his sons last year. Zhao also earned Trump’s favor by framing Joe Biden as crypto’s enemy.
And, of course, Trump took the bait despite harsh criticism from Laura Loomer, who called the move “another terrible Pardon idea that I’m sure someone is getting paid a lot of money to push.”
That someone, Laura, is none other than the president of the United States of America.
So while White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed that “the Biden administration’s war on crypto is over,” Trump’s milking of it has only just started.
🧠 Pop Quiz!
What do Disney villains Scar, Gaston, Maleficent, and The Evil Queen have in common?
Keep your eyes out for the answer below!
🌏 Anywhere But America
🇵🇸 A Palestinian teen was killed during an Israeli military raid in a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus. Israeli forces reportedly shot 18-year-old Mohammed Ahmed Abu Haneen in the back as they stormed the camp early Friday. He later died of his injuries.
🇺🇦 Two Ukrainian journalists were killed in a Russian drone strike in the eastern city of Kramatorsk, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
🇧🇷 Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announced his bid for re-election. This comes weeks after his far-right political opponent, former President Jair Bolsonaro, was sentenced to 27 years in prison and barred from public office until 2030.
🇸🇩 UN agencies called for immediate action to address the worsening humanitarian crisis in Sudan, where more than 30 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance, including nearly 15 million children.
🇨🇳 China’s Communist Party approved a five-year economic plan, focusing on building self-reliance in science and technology.
🚨 Don’t Miss It!
Should Graham Platner stand aside? The popular and populist Senate Democratic candidate challenging Susan Collins in Maine has been plagued by controversies – the latest being a Nazi tattoo he had on his chest. Mehdi hosted a heated but fascinating debate between former Clinton campaign aide Kaivan Shroff and ‘The Young Turks’ founder Cenk Uygur.
It’ll be dropping in your inbox later today!
🍨 The Scoop
Trump Turns the White House Into ‘MAGA-Saddam’s’ Cheesy Palace
Zeteo senior political correspondent Swin Suebsaeng is back with the latest on Trump’s bizarre behavior, and this time, it’s all about his interior decorating skills (or lack thereof).
Years before his political rise, according to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the matter, Donald Trump had a very annoying habit when it came to overseeing his international real-estate empire. Sometimes in the middle of the night, when The Donald would be hanging out in the lobby or other area of a Trump-branded building, club, or casino, he’d call his staff demanding that decor or furniture be changed to his idiosyncratic specifications. He thought a door, or even the hinges on it, didn’t look good. He’d rant about the couches, or a rug. It was common for him to be angry about it and swear loudly.
Today, the president is still, at heart, a huffy interior designer. It’s just that he’s now doing it to the White House. First, he remade the Oval Office to be as cheesily gilded as his own private property. Now, he’s brazenly demolishing the East Wing to make room for his ballroom, which is being funded by mega-donors looking to curry favor with a deeply corrupt administration. Sources familiar with the situation tell me that within the Trump White House, it has been a running joke this year that this president is redecorating the place in ways that could make Saddam Hussein, the late Iraqi dictator, blush. “The new Trump White House is MAGA-Saddam’s presidential palace,” a White House official, laughing, once told me.
A White House fit for an Orange King!
🧠 Trivia answer: They all fell to their deaths 😬
📊 Poll of the Day
The University of New Hampshire is out with its latest polling on Maine’s 2026 Senate Democratic primary, and it shows a whopping lead for populist Graham Platner over incumbent Democratic Governor Janet Mills - although polling was conducted from Oct. 16 to Oct. 21, ending right as Platner’s Nazi tattoo controversy began.
🦊 Fox Watch
Oh, so things are even worse than they seem! Last night, Fox host Jesse Watters declared: “I’m worried about Miller, Homan, and all of the crew… Trump just needs to do what Biden did, pardon everybody on the way out the door.”
Soooo, yeah, I’m not a fan of how Biden used his pardon powers, but this terrifies me.
What have Stephen Miller, Tom Homan, and company done in their first 10 months on the job that could get them thrown in the slammer? And what will they do now if they think an inevitable Trump pardon is coming their way?
📖 Weekend Reads
As we officially close out the first week of ‘First Draft,’ Team Zeteo has compiled a set of #mustread articles for you to indulge in this weekend before we return to your inbox next week.
Inside the Improbable, Audacious and (So Far) Unstoppable Rise of Zohran Mamdani
Think you know Zohran Mamdani? Astead W. Herndon covers a whole new side of the New York City mayoral candidate after following his campaign for five months.
“Anna, Lindsey Halligan Here.”
Yet another Signal scandal has hit the Trump administration. Read the explosive report by Anna Bower in Lawfare, detailing her messages with the interim US attorney behind Letitia James’s indictment.
ICE’s ‘Athletically Allergic’ Recruits
Can you do 15 push-ups, 32 sit-ups, and run 1.5 miles in 14 minutes? If you can, congratulations! You’re more qualified to join ICE than a third of its new recruits. The Atlantic’s Nick Miroff’s got the latest on ICE’s lackluster agents.
How Hunger Threatens Peace in Gaza
Extreme starvation in Gaza has remained a dire issue in the past two years. But, with the ceasefire deal in place, is it possible for Gaza to reach a level of stability? Foreign Affairs’s Jeremy Konyndyk writes on the highly concerted effort from the Israeli government to maintain a humanitarian crisis, depriving Palestinians of much-needed aid.
We’ll see you back here on Monday with a fresh ‘First Draft’ from Mehdi!
Zeteo’s Melanie Riehl and Akshay Gokul contributed to this newsletter. (they’re the absolute freakin’ best. Love you guys — PR)
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I am enjoying this new morning newsletter. Thank you Mehdi & team
Hey, good job, Peter. I really enjoyed reading the morning newsletter. Thanks for sharing the links to those other interesting articles.