this post was submitted on 22 Feb 2025
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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.

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[–] Pondis@lemmy.world 199 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (6 children)

To be fair he wasn't supposed to run for a second term as a convicted felon, but he managed that.

I'd like to say I'd be surprised if he could win another election as his popularity plummets, but the US voters have proven themselves to be stupid and/or lazy.

[–] Nougat@fedia.io 123 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Being a convicted felon does not disqualify you from running for president, or from being elected to the office.

Fomenting insurrection does, but that got waved away "because reasons".

[–] orbituary@lemmy.dbzer0.com 60 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (2 children)

Because Merrick Garland is a bitch. Also more stuff.

[–] Nougat@fedia.io 52 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Nah, Colorado was handling it appropriately, then SCOTUS stepped in and told a state that they're not allowed to administer elections in their state.

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[–] grue@lemmy.world 22 points 4 months ago

Because Biden appointed a bitch instead of someone who would actually do their goddamn job.

[–] dojan@lemmy.world 36 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I wouldn’t be surprised. He promised an end of elections and voting. This is what his voters wanted.

[–] Placebonickname@lemmy.world 7 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Take the good with the bad, if we have to re-do the voting system I say we move towards a more popular-voting system and get rid of the electoral collage, it’s time to shake up the gerrymandering of districts in favor of GOP Senators/Congress.

Time for an overhaul!

[–] dojan@lemmy.world 14 points 4 months ago (2 children)

I think he's aiming more to become an emperor. That said, I like the positive outlook! If he fucking ruins everything, there's always room for the Americans to build something better in the mess he leaves.

[–] skulblaka@sh.itjust.works 8 points 4 months ago (3 children)

I've been thinking about this a lot recently. The abject destruction of all aspects of law and government being carried out by Trump/Musk right now is, objectively, a bad thing that's going to hurt a lot of people very badly. But once their system inevitably completely collapses, I think a lot of Americans are going to be open to new ideas of governance.

Previously, we could all see problems in our systems but the path to actually getting them solved involved generations of focused political maneuvering to actually stand a chance of putting them in place. Take federal adoption of ranked choice voting as an example. Many people would say they were in favor of that but we all knew it had a snowball's chance in hell of ever actually happening because of how our system of governance was set up. I fully expected we'd just coast along with FPTP voting until we're all dead from climate catastrophe.

But now, we're actually looking at a potential full scale, whole hog destruction of the foundations of American government. Whoever inherits it afterward - and someone will, this reign won't last forever, it's incapable of sustaining itself even if we all just left them alone - has the potential for nearly a ground-up rewrite of some fundamental assumptions of American government. We're talking about changing the baseline voting systems, changing eligibility for office for many roles, even fundamentally changing the way our representation is appointed (such as by population size instead of by land, for instance - one rep for every, say, 500,000 citizens, not two reps per state regardless of population) and so on.

Rising from our own ashes may just end up being one of the best things to ever happen to America, in a historical context. Inevitably, no matter how this farce ends up resolving, we will have an opportunity for this afterward. Trump, in his bumbling fury, has swept away decades worth of red tape and inertia that we otherwise would have had to struggle through to make this happen, and in addition has galvanized a lot of latent anger with the system within the citizens. We will have a real chance to turn that into something constructive after all this finishes in whatever way it does.

That's my light at the end of the tunnel for all this, and in a weird way, I guess I have Trump to thank for this. His signature style of completely ignoring norms and regulations means that he can blast through a ton of bullshit while being completely immune to the feedback, and we can just build it all up again from scratch later in a term or two instead of taking six decades to effect gradual change.

Previously I would have called this accelerationism and maybe condemned it, but we're in the shit now, so may as well get it over with I guess. He's already throwing all his toys out of the crib no matter what I say about it so I'm no longer ashamed about cheering for it. America has had a deep sickness in its government for a very long time and maybe now we can excise it. We're losing a lot of healthy tissue alongside it, and that's bad, but it's not likely to kill us altogether. We'll grow back stronger.

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[–] CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world 27 points 4 months ago

That, and we have that stupid Electoral College. Oh, and lots and lots of fuckery from the Republican apparatchiks when it comes to running our elections.

[–] justOnePersistentKbinPlease@fedia.io 9 points 4 months ago (1 children)

He wasn't technically a convicted felon until sentencing, and IANAL, I think that falls under shit no one thought would ever happen.

[–] shani66@ani.social 9 points 4 months ago

Being an insurrectionist is a guilty until proven innocent thing as far as the constitution goes iirc. At least in regards to holding office.

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[–] ShaggySnacks@lemmy.myserv.one 56 points 4 months ago (2 children)

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.

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[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 52 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Who's gonna stop him from running for or taking office for a third time? The Democrats? Are they gonna write a strongly worded letter? The Supreme Court? Do they have anyone with guns who will listen to them?

[–] pivot_root@lemmy.world 24 points 4 months ago

He'll be SLaMmeD in that strongly worded letter, they'll pat themselves on the back for a job well done, then run another candidate without a primary.

[–] ragepaw@lemmy.ca 41 points 4 months ago

It says elected. He has no intention of having another election.

[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 36 points 4 months ago (1 children)

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

[–] earphone843@sh.itjust.works 16 points 4 months ago (3 children)

I can't see him still being alive by then. He's going to have a stroke or coronary before then.

[–] MisterCurtis@lemmy.world 13 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Or some other mysterious 3rd option

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[–] CileTheSane@lemmy.ca 35 points 4 months ago (4 children)

Criminals aren't allowed to run for president either. Here we are.

[–] sik0fewl@lemmy.ca 19 points 4 months ago

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).

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[–] Zexks@lemmy.world 30 points 4 months ago (2 children)

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.

[–] Hylactor@sopuli.xyz 25 points 4 months ago (1 children)

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.

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[–] Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 25 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Any time Trump jokes, it's the camel's nose under the tent.

[–] Wetstew@lemmy.world 9 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I've never heard that phrase before that's an excellent phrase.

[–] tronx4002@lemmy.world 9 points 4 months ago (2 children)

Can you enlighten me? I don't understand the phrase.

[–] AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 8 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

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.

[–] Wetstew@lemmy.world 12 points 4 months ago

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.

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[–] UncleArthur@lemmy.world 22 points 4 months ago (3 children)

I'm a Brit so what do I know? But I can see him taking a leaf out of Putin's playbook and running as VP to a family member running for President, possibly Eric. Then he'll still be in control.

[–] match@pawb.social 27 points 4 months ago (1 children)

the constitution also directly bars that, but, it bars a lot of what Trump's already done in the last month

[–] Hylactor@sopuli.xyz 11 points 4 months ago (6 children)

The bad news is that we've (the sane, the empathetic, the introspective, the curious) already lost what was America. Trump's reelection is more like the rimshot following the actual punchline. So that battle is lost. It's painful but we can't dwell on it like a dog licking a hot spot. The good news is a new battle is brewing. I have no doubt that the current state of the government is unsustainable, wether by design or through incompetence. It's a near certainty that major calamity is on the horizon. Illness, war, terrorism, climate, social upheaval, something catastrophic will happen. It is going to happen and it will demand leadership and governance to overcome, and the fourth reich will not be capable of rising to the occasion. They will botch it, and the nation will be shattered. Historic levels of national reorganization will need to occur. Implied rules will need to be made explicit. This is where the next fight really is. They got to play offense for as long as democrats were a boogie man. Well, they hold all the cards now, so they will be soley to blame for the trainwreck. They will try to weasel out of it, but we can't let them. We need to keep them cornered, and we need to be ready to snatch back the tiller when the rough seas knock that fat bastard down onto the fucking deck. Then we need to bust out the plank and throw a going away party for his whole rogues gallery. Then we need to find shore again and fix our damaged ship.

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[–] FoxyFerengi@lemm.ee 12 points 4 months ago (1 children)

The 22nd amendment, the one that bars him from running for a third presidential term, also bars him from running as a future VP. Legally he could be speaker of the house, or another high ranking unelected official, but he's not inclined to follow laws anyway. Before Musk I would have said he wouldn't want to be 2nd-in-power, so I would have thought having one of his sons hold a higher office than him wouldn't happen. Everything is upside down now, so who knows what will happen

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[–] orbituary@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 4 months ago

He's not in control. He plays golf, tweets angrily, eats hamberders, watches tv, and yells at crowds and probably clouds.

The billionaires behind him are in charge.

https://www.vcinfodocs.com/venture-capital-and-trump

https://www.vcinfodocs.com/venture-capital-extremism

https://www.vcinfodocs.com/day-one-of-venture-capital-takeover

[–] M0oP0o@mander.xyz 22 points 4 months ago

Barred? By whom? Really, when will the states wake up and figure out there is no "adult" in the wings that will enforce norms.

[–] Nightwingdragon@lemmy.world 22 points 4 months ago (3 children)

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......

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[–] medicsofanarchy@lemmy.world 17 points 4 months ago (2 children)

It says, elected more than twice. Who says there's going to be an election?

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[–] cultsuperstar@lemmy.world 16 points 4 months ago

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.

[–] WatDabney@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 4 months ago (2 children)

He really is sort of pathetic.

It's weird and oddly discouraging. It seems like the individual most responsible for the oncoming collapse of the United States should be some sort of supervillain, but he's really just a desperately insecure and over-compensating wad of hair, bronzer and congealed fat with the emotional maturity of a spoiled three-year-old.

And meanwhile, his wannabe Rasputin sidekick is a desperately insecure and over-compensating middle-aged chuunibyou who's still trying, and pathetically failing, to be the edgiest 13-year-old, and to not think about the fact that everyone who knows him thinks he's an asshole.

As if it's not already bad enough to watch as the US is systematically destroyed, we have to watch as it's systematically destroyed by people who are so pathetic and creepy.

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[–] TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world 13 points 4 months ago (5 children)

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.

[–] AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 15 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (4 children)

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.

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[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 13 points 4 months ago

The US is right in a coup. Who knows what will be legal or illegal after that.

[–] DMCMNFIBFFF@lemmy.world 12 points 4 months ago (6 children)

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.

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[–] robbinhood@lemmy.world 9 points 4 months ago

I'd be shocked if he's actually in good enough physical health to run again.

Sadly, I think Vance and his ilk might actually be a graver threat and Trump leaving the picture affords them an opportunity to rise up. The corporate cyberpunk dystopias they're dreaming of are terrifying.

[–] PrincessLeiasCat@sh.itjust.works 8 points 4 months ago

Statistically he would have died of natural causes or heart disease or something by then, right? He’s old as fuck and eats like shit.

[–] Brkdncr@lemmy.world 8 points 4 months ago (2 children)

They might stir up a war for a third term.

[–] adarza@lemmy.ca 8 points 4 months ago

operative krasnov wants a war so he can start up his national police and declare martial law. and he'll do it all just for the bump in the fucking polls for being a 'war president'.

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