Here Are 4 Disturbing Ways Trump Could Try to Hold Onto Power Beyond 2028
Trump said this week he won't run for an unconstitutional third term, after previously suggesting he might. Steve Bannon says Trump definitely will. Who should we believe? What plans are they making?
Earlier this week, Donald Trump said he would “love to” run for a third term as president. The next day, he acknowledged, “it’s pretty clear I’m not allowed to run.”
At some level, it was encouraging to hear Trump say he won’t attempt to violate the plain wording of the Constitution’s 22nd Amendment, which prohibits anyone from being elected president more than twice. Consider when Trump was asked this spring if he needed to uphold the Constitution. He responded: “I don’t know.” The president recently shared a video depicting himself as “King Trump” in a fighter jet dumping feces on protesters who oppose him.
Unfortunately, it’s not clear yet that Americans should trust Trump when he says he won’t try to run again – or that anyone should assume he wouldn’t try to cling to power beyond January 2029. Trump already attempted to overturn the will of the voters once, and he has indicated several times he could try to seek a third term as president.
“A lot of people want me to do it,” Trump told NBC News in March. “I’m not joking,” he continued, adding, “There are methods which you could do it.” He expressed enthusiasm about the idea as recently as Monday. “I would love to do it,” he said. When a reporter noted he wasn’t ruling it out, he responded: “Am I not ruling it out? You’ll have to tell me.”
The Trump family’s business empire is making money off this unconstitutional idea, selling shirts, hats, and beer koozies emblazoned with the words “Trump 2028.” When House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Tuesday he told Trump there’s no “path” for a third term, he made sure to shout out the “Trump 2028 cap.” Johnson, a constitutional lawyer, called the hat “one of the most popular that’s ever been produced,” claiming that Trump had been “trolling” Democrats with the merchandise.
Much of the third-term talk has been pushed by Trump’s former first-term strategist and current podcaster Steve Bannon. In a recent interview, Bannon declared matter-of-factly that Trump is “going to get a third term.” Asked about the constitutional prohibition, Bannon said, “There’s many different alternatives.”
The legitimate way to allow a president to run for a third term would be to try to amend the Constitution to make it legal. Johnson appeared to rule out that idea on Tuesday. “I don’t see a way to amend the Constitution, because it takes about 10 years to do that,” he said.
There are at least four different troubling ways Trump could attempt to subvert the 22nd Amendment or try to cling to power.