# The argument that Trump will do whatever he wants and no one can stop him is really fucking boring **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [December 12, 2024, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527 "2024-12-12T02:36:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 65
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/1282 "2025-11-29T18:51:32Z")
Remember how all those Republicans stopped Trump from having the east wing of the fucking White House demolished? Man, they _jumped_ into action! ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/1283 "2025-11-29T18:51:33Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Trump will ignore the 22nd Amendment and everyone will go along. > Trump will not hold elections in 2028 and they will just not happen. > In regards to the 25th Amendment, Trump will refuse to step down and no one can do a thing about it. I don’t think the country would go along with Trump running again. I do there’s a risk that due to some “grave national emergency” Trump will insist on staying in power after his term should be over and I don’t see who will stop that effort. Maybe millions will take to the streets, maybe not. I can’t imagine _anyone_ invoking the 25th amendment, regardless of good reasons to do so. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/1284 "2025-11-29T18:57:30Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Trump will ignore the 22nd Amendment and everyone will go along. > Trump will not hold elections in 2028 and they will just not happen. > In regards to the 25th Amendment, Trump will refuse to step down and no one can do a thing about it. It’s wish-casting by Trump supporters. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/1285 "2025-11-29T19:24:31Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I can’t imagine _anyone_ invoking the 25th amendment, regardless of good reasons to do so. Ooops. Should have been 20th Amendment > The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/1286 "2025-11-29T20:02:34Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Trump will not hold elections in 2028 It’s not up to the president whether to “hold elections” or not. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/1287 "2025-11-29T20:06:26Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > I’ve noticed this more here over the last couple of days. > Trump will ignore the 22nd Amendment and everyone will go along. Certainly helps that you’ve brought it up in multiple threads. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/1288 "2025-11-29T20:42:29Z")
😄 Weird how that works! ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/1289 "2025-11-29T22:11:33Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > It’s not up to the president whether to “hold elections” or not It’s not up to the president to set (most) tariffs, close government departments, deploy troops for non-emergencies, tear down parts of the White House, strip powers granted by Congress from agencies, demand tribute money from the DOJ, install prosecutors without following the law, reallocate money as mandated by Congress. and I’m sure more things I can’t think of right now. If the president is able to impose martial law nationwide (major cities, state capitals, etc.), then elections will be cancelled. Fortunately, as of right now, mid-level judges and local politicians are fighting back against deploying the national guard. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/1290 "2025-11-29T22:29:31Z")
> [@echoreply](#): > > It’s not up to the president to set (most) tariffs, close government departments, deploy troops for non-emergencies, tear down parts of the White House, strip powers granted by Congress from agencies, demand tribute money from the DOJ, install prosecutors without following the law, reallocate money as mandated by Congress. and I’m sure more things I can’t think of right now. You are conflating “things the president isn’t supposed to do” with “things the president CAN’T do”. The president can’t “cancel elections”, even if he wants to, any more than he can blow up the Moon or arrest Santa or annex the merry old land of Oz. Elections are held by the states on a schedule set by Congress. The president plays no part in the process and is not involved. There’s nothing he can do to stop it from happening. > [@echoreply](#): > > If the president is able to impose martial law He’s not. The military isn’t big enough. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/1291 "2025-11-29T22:57:36Z")
You’re right. What he can do is lean on red states not to hold elections, or find some reason not to put Democrats on the ballot. Maybe he’ll declare the Democratic party a terrorist organization at this point. Blue states will sill hold their elections, over Trumps loud objections and as he continually states that he intends not to pay the results any mind. They’ll send their electoral votes to DC we’re they’ll be ignored in the interest of national security. I mean, christ, they had an outlandish but actionable plan for rendering the 2020 election null and void, and that political climate where they couldn’t get away with it feels like an alien reality at this point. They have no intention of leaving power, can’t you see that? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/1292 "2025-11-29T23:07:54Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > What he can do is lean on red states not to hold elections Which won’t work, because they NEED to hold elections for hundreds of other state and municipal offices, as required by law, and no judge in any state is going to be OK with a declaration of “all incumbents are now in office forever”. Not even during the Civil War did we not have elections. > [@steronz](#): > > Maybe he’ll declare the Democratic party a terrorist organization Federal law only allows for foreign persons and organizations to be deemed terrorist. There’s no such thing as a domestic terrorist organization under US law. Any such declaration would have zero legal weight, just like his repeated declarations that “antifa” is a terrorist organization. > [@steronz](#): > > over Trumps loud objections and as he continually states that he intends not to pay the results any mind. The nice thing about elections is that they don’t require royal assent from the president in order for the results to count. > [@steronz](#): > > . They’ll send their electoral votes to DC we’re they’ll be ignored in the interest of national security. At what point in this scenario did Republicans gain a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress? Because that’s what they’d need in order to make something like that even remotely possible, and they’ll be lucky to even have a majority after next year. > [@steronz](#): > > They have no intention of leaving power, can’t you see that? It’s not up to them. Trump has a 36% approval rating. You don’t become a dictator when two thirds of the country hates you and your own party is in rebellion against your mad decrees. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/1293 "2025-11-29T23:10:57Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > You don’t become a dictator when two thirds of the country hates you and your own party is in rebellion against your mad decrees. Correct on the first observation; wildly, optimistically incorrect on the second. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/1294 "2025-11-29T23:11:45Z")
But HEY! OP is still bored, m’Iright? ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/1295 "2025-11-29T23:13:53Z")
Right, I’m not looking around and seeing anything going particular wrong for the fascists. Project 2025 is still humming along, ICE is still growing, we’ve got a war about to pop off, Democrats caved on the shutdown and Republicans are back to doing whatever they want… why does anyone think there’s been a change in MAGA sentiment? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/1296 "2025-11-29T23:14:34Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > wildly, optimistically incorrect on the second. They defied him by voting to release the Epstein files. They defied him on ending the filibuster. The Republican chair of the Armed Services Committee just announced an investigation into Hegseth’s war crimes. They’re not even considering his 50-year mortgages or $2,000 checks or his “let people negotiate their own healthcare without insurance conpanies” idea. Multiple state legislatures are refusing his demands for redistricting. The days of Trump issuing decrees and Republicans acting in lockstep are done. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/1297 "2025-11-29T23:14:52Z")
They had a valid point about the Super Bowl. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/1298 "2025-11-29T23:18:23Z")
Especially given everything, “own party is in rebellion” would only mean swift impeachment and removal. They have so much material to work with toward that goal, and haven’t taken even the tiniest step in that direction. This is a _rebellion_? You do you, but I would save that word for something a little more…constructive? brave? effective? Anything! (I concede your observation about Senator Wicker’s joining Democrats in investigating Hesgseth…that is a real development. But it won’t actually change anything, right?) ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/1299 "2025-11-29T23:32:54Z")
Perhaps “rebellion” was a hyperbolic word choice, but the point is that the party is no longer willing to move heaven and earth at Trump’s every demand. Plenty of them expect to still be around after he’s gone and would rather start preparing for that now than try to figure out ways to make sure he keeps malingering on until whenever he finally has a stroke on the toilet. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2025, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/1300 "2025-11-29T23:43:43Z")
Perhaps. Maybe it’s helpful to divide this into two things: 1. How much will the (as yet gradual, modest, and scattered) Republican hesitations about Trump **increase the chances that he will be removed from office** before, say, the end of 2026 (and his successor, supposedly Vance, would rule much more sanely)? 2. How many of his would-be, harmful **policies and actions** (between now and the end of his term) **will be thwarted** by these same hesitations? If the current rate of “turning against Trump” among Republicans (officeholders at all levels, plus voters) holds steady – that is, with each passing month, there is more dissent, but it doesn’t suddenly snowball into a true “rebellion,” which I find very unlikely – then I’d guess the first one would increase from a current probability of 1%, to 10% at most, while the second would increase from a current rate of about 3% to 20% at most. That’s _if_ the defection rate is sustained, month after month. There’s no guarantee of that. And we’re still stuck with 80% of his shitty policies being enacted. (True, some actions will be blocked by judges, etc. – but this is balanced by all the things he does that aren’t blockable, but are nonetheless harmful, like calling reporters “stupid.”) (All this is my WAG, of course.) ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2025, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527/1301 "2025-11-30T04:33:11Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > It’s not up to the president whether to “hold elections” or not. > [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Certainly helps that you’ve brought it up in multiple threads. These were examples I’ve seen by other posters in thread. Not mine because I don’t believe everyone will stand idly by and say, “Meh, nothing I can do.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527.md?page=64) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-argument-that-trump-will-do-whatever-he-wants-and-no-one-can-stop-him-is-really-fucking-boring/1011527.md?page=66)