Summary
Despite the 22nd Amendment barring a third term (“No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice”), Trump continues to suggest he could run again, raising the idea at a Black History Month event and with Republican governors.
Legal experts say the Constitution is clear that he cannot run, though some supporters, including Rep. Andy Ogles and Steve Bannon, are pushing for a constitutional amendment or a 2028 campaign.
Meanwhile, Trump has expanded executive authority in his second term, drawing criticism for undermining congressional checks.
The Constitution barred him from running again after he incited a riot on the capitol. Yet here we are.
Forgive me if my faith in the Constitution is waning a bit.
The constitution is fine. The government has lost their will to enforce it, that’s the problem.
One difference is that he, specifically, wasn’t convicted of insurrection by the time ballots were being printed up. That’s why the Supreme Court could plausibly say that there was no basis for states to remove him from the ballot.
The clause on term limits is clear. It’s automatic, and there’s no interesting basis to challenge that. The Supreme Court would have to massively overreach to make that work. Will they do that? Maybe, but it’s not the same situation.
I have to say, it would be extremely funny if they changed the constitution and then Trump lost to Obama
No its so much more fucked than that. It’s literally god emperor language.
https://www.newsweek.com/trump-third-term-constitutional-amendment-andy-ogles-2025020
The wording of Ogles’ amendment proposal suggests that previous consecutive two-term presidents, such as Barack Obama or George W. Bush, would not be allowed to run for a third term.
Funnily enough, the same thing happened with Putin in Russia
The Dems should call his bluff and propose a constitutional amendment allowing three terms, perhaps under the condition that sitting presidents must win an open primary to be eligible for a second or third nomination.
FDR had three terms, plus a few months of a fourth term.
IMHO, the bigger issue is not having three terms, but the fact that sitting presidents can get the nomination without winning a primary. This practice removes an important opportunity to replace them.
The parties aren’t part of the government and can make their own rules on how they choose a candidate. All that’s required to run for president is getting enough signatures and filing the right paperwork. Being a party’s chosen candidate makes that a lot easier, but anyone can do it.
Since we are talking constitutional amendments, anything can be added as a requirement.
The way things currently work are not a restriction.
I honestly think we should have fewer roadblocks to running for national office, not more. Introduce an amendment that candidates have to be primaried and now only members of a party can run for president, rather than anyone who gets enough support. That doesn’t seem like a step forward to me.
In what world could someone who is already elected president not arrange some kind of democratic primary for their second and third terms?
You could also abolish the whole primary process and go for a French two-stage election.
Anyway, sky’s the limit for finding a new system.
Yeah well, the Constitution says a lot of things. However, it’s fairly clear a large segment of the American population doesn’t care what the Constitution says as long as it’s their team in power.
Exactly, they’re going to say the courts are just against him, or something, and then kick off.
And I would say:
Yes, the courts are against him on that because it’s fucking clear that our founders never wanted a king or authoritarian in charge and two terms is more than enough and already set.
Criminals aren’t allowed to run for president either. Here we are.
According to the Supreme Court of the United States of America, Jefferson Davis and General Robert E. Lee are both eligible for the office of the United States of America (if they were still alive at least).
Of course criminals are allowed to run for president
wrong, it’s only individual states that prohibit felons from voting or running for office.
I’d vote for Debs
It says elected. He has no intention of having another election.
The Republican Third Term Project is pushing this hard. They’re at CPAC drumming up support. I think the language is only specific to Trump though, so no other past president would be able to run again. It’s something like a president that has not served 2 consecutive terms.
Also, Trump doesn’t care about the constitution and neither do just about every GOP in office. They may say publicly that he can’t do it or whatever, but if it comes down to it, they would vote for it.
Of course he’ll run and of course he’ll win and og course he’ll just ignore the laws about it and of course nobody is going to stop him
I can’t see him still being alive by then. He’s going to have a stroke or coronary before then.
Or some other mysterious 3rd option
Imagine if a MacDonald’s worker on minimum wage slipped something in his slimeburger.
We were all hoping for that last time and look where we are now. …
8 years of horrible lifestyle later.
Barred? By whom? Really, when will the states wake up and figure out there is no “adult” in the wings that will enforce norms.
The constitution is like the laws of physics; god will enforce it. If not god then perhaps ligma.
American exceptionalism is so stupid strong that I can actually see people thinking that.
He’s gonna run anyways. Mark my words. He can’t leave office or he’s fucked. The constitution is nothing more than toilet paper at this point, if no one is going to stand up for it.
Ideally, in the near future he will undergo some sort of transformation that would render a third term a physical impossibility rather than a legal one.
I call that “God’s Ultimate Recall Vote”
Decent chance he’ll croak before the end of his term. Or maybe that’s just wishful thinking on my part.
Then we get Captain Shortpants
Wait until he learns about FDR and his third and fourth terms. That’s what he’ll use as his reasoning.
Any time Trump jokes, it’s the camel’s nose under the tent.
I’ve never heard that phrase before that’s an excellent phrase.
Can you enlighten me? I don’t understand the phrase.
Camels, much like dogs, cats, and other domesticated animals, are constantly pushing their boundaries. The phrase “a camel’s nose under the tent” is indicative of a camel that is attempting to find a way inside the tent so that they may eat the, most likely, food that has captured their attention with its scent.
This would be applicable to the Drumpf administration because they are, much like the camel, using a method of “throw everything at the wall and see what sticks,” as well as a method of overwhelming the media with birdshot. Namely, if you’re creating 50 stories a day, and doing 50 things a day, then the media and the government can’t keep up.
Again similar to our camel that has enough strength to tip the tent over, and create a royal mess, in its attempt to get in.
Edit: First time I have heard the phrase as well,.but that is the meaning I would take from context.
I looked it up when I saw it, it seems like it comes from a fable with a similar moral to “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie”
A camel sticks his nose under the edge of a tent for warmth, it’s owner (or a stranger w/e) allows it to out of kindness. Then the camel slowly worms it’s entire body in the tent and refuses to budge.
It’s a slippery slope parable.
In a sane society Trump should be in prison.
I also had no idea. This is what I found.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel’s_nose
The camel’s nose is a metaphor for a situation where the permitting of a small, seemingly innocuous act will open the door for larger, clearly undesirable actions.
Yeah, I don’t think he’s capable of an actual joke. I’m a big fan of this analysis…. https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/writer-perfectly-breaks-down-why-brits-dont-like-donald-trump-388956/
There is absolutely nothing barring Trump from running for a third term.
The Supreme Court literally just hand-waved away another Constitutional amendment that should have barred Trump from running for a 2nd term, let alone a third. And they basically did it on the legal precedent of “because fuck you, that’s why.” All 3 branches of government have completely ignored the blatant constitutional violations he’s committed since taking office. There’s absolutely nothing stopping the Supreme Court from just striking down another constitutional amendment because hey why not and letting the guy run as often as he wants.
And remember, we even had one state legislator asking why we even have elections instead of just handing the votes to Trump…
There was a little kernel of sanity behind that ruling, though. Absent a clear conviction for a crime that smells like insurrection, who gets to decide what insurrection means? I remember that there was a lot of talk of the “insurrection at the border” at the same time the ruling was being considered, as well as describing migrants as “military-age men”. I am positive that if the SC let Colorado take Trump off the ballot, Texas would have taken Biden off based on some bullshit theory that he was instigating a foreign invasion of migrants.
The language behind a third Presidential term is much, much clearer. The plain text of the amendment bars it, and if Trump decides to run again, several states will declare him ineligible on the spot. That will go to the SC, too. We’ll see what happens then.
There was a little kernel of sanity behind that ruling, though. Absent a clear conviction for a crime that smells like insurrection,
The House of Representatives, by a majority vote, found that Donald Trump engaged in insurrection and impeached him for this after January 6th. The Senate failed to vote to remove him from office, but this does not change the fact that he was found to have engaged in insurrection by the House of Representatives.
who gets to decide what insurrection means?
The House of Representatives already did.
Texas would have taken Biden off based on some bullshit theory that he was instigating a foreign invasion of migrants.
And when either the House of Representatives votes to impeach him for it, then he can be removed from the ballot as well. They tried, and failed. Repeatedly.
And if the courts just randomly decide that Biden’s actions constituted an insurrection, we have much bigger problems to deal with, as the courts at that point can just declare anything they want as an insurrection, including political dissent.
The language behind a third Presidential term is much, much clearer. The plain text of the amendment bars it
Going based on the “kernel of sanity” thing, the argument is that it was meant to bar more than two consecutive terms, and was not meant to bar non-consecutive terms. The argument is that those who wrote the amendment knew the importance of being specific, and if they wanted to bar non-consecutive terms, they’d have specifically said as much.
Unfortunately, most people don’t interpret the impeachment the way you do. They view the fact that he didn’t get thrown out of office as more of an acquittal, really. Although impeachment is a political process and not a judicial one, the impeachment itself in the House is more akin to an indictment while the trial in the Senate is meant to mirror a jury trial.
It says, elected more than twice. Who says there’s going to be an election?
That’s what I was thinking. Does anyone remember leading up to him taking over in '17 they were talking about how Obama was going to institute martial law and just stay in the Whitehouse without being elected?
They haven’t tried that one yet but they sure floated that someone else was going to do it.
He did promise that it will be the last election if he wins this one
It is unlikely that the constitution will be amended. Democrats still (and will always) hold roughly 50% of seats in the Congress. So any proposal to amendment will not pass. However, there is a possibility of coup if Trump does not want to step down.
They just illegally fired, and replaced the joint chiefs. What makes you think they aren’t going to arrest and replace all the democratic representatives and senators?
We’re already past The Reichstag Fire
He will be trying to make The Fediverse illegal in the US within the next 6 months.
I could be wrong, but aren’t joint chiefs appointed by the president nonetheless?
You’re not wrong, there was nothing illegal about firing the joint chiefs.
It was stupid, but not illegal. Calling everything Trump does illegal, only serves to dilute the impact when he does actual illegal things.
Much like labeling everything ‘Nazi’, it only serves to cheapen the term.
Some Lemmy users even go so far as say there is equivalent of Reichstag fire event in US. Trump is only in office for one month and I didn’t see the Congress get burned, pinned the blame on an opposing group, and then made Trump demand for absolute power. Is Trump bad? Yes, but let’s not exaggerate. There are still checks and balance working as intended (many courts are still blocking many of Trump’s executive decisions after all). People need to relax and get a cool head first. Because decisions made on emotions will only blunder.
Unfortunately The Algorithm has learned that outrage is a form of engagement and so people who consume social media in place of news or education now are incentivized by social media’s reward systems to generate and view the most outrageous takes on any event.
My guy, 2 years from now, there will be a redder wave from a kangaroo election, and they will amend the Constitution and end whatever is left of democracy. CISA is gutted, and will be replaced with lackeys that will confirm the fake election. We’re cooked.
You mean another coup? Another in addition to the first coup, in which several people were killed and sh*t smeared on the walls of the capitol, when people had to hide for their lives and in which some of the protectors were complicit?
The one after which the ringleader went completely unpunished and then got back into power and released the people who’d actually done it on his behalf?
I know this is crazytown now, but we don’t want to forget about that first coup.
There are still federal and state judges blocking many of Trump’s executive decisions, and half of population willing to resist. The checks and balance is still working as intended even if politicians and the other half of people itself had been compromised. I still wouldn’t call democracy itself completely dead yet.
Its more like knocked out and twitching, hopefully it’s not just those movements the body makes when it doesn’t realise it’s dead yet.
On November 2028, he’ll be older than Joe Biden is now.
But yeah, I can see him enter the 2028 GOP primaries, win the nomination, maybe beat Harris again, and serve as acting President while SCOTUS allows it.
you think they’ll repeal the 22nd amendment and we’d see Harris? Please it’d be Obama v Trump
Obama would easily win which is why all the bills have been worded to exclude him.
Do you have examples?
Yes. To allow a third term; if the president have not served two consecutive ones.
Haha fucking bullshit
I’m sure 38 states would go for that. 😁
Obama - Return of the Jedi
