# Trump won't rule out 3rd term **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [March 31, 2025, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wont-rule-out-3rd-term/1016371 "2025-03-31T01:50:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2025, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wont-rule-out-3rd-term/1016371/241 "2025-04-02T19:36:36Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > But keep in mind it’s the Republican party which is choosing the people who go into jobs. Donald Trump doesn’t even know the names of these people. So when it comes to a crunch, these people work for the Republican party not Donald Trump. The objective fact is that the party has been in lockstep behind Trump, even before he became president (e.g. denying that Biden won the election fair and square for the last 4 years). If you want to speculate that really it’s the party using Trump, and they could jettison him at some future point, then fine. But I don’t think anyone should take comfort from that because it’s baseless. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2025, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wont-rule-out-3rd-term/1016371/242 "2025-04-02T19:41:18Z")
Back to the legality, if there were a legal dispute and, say, the plaintiff could show that the other side specifically considered the disputed point and went in another direction (in the plaintiff’s favor), I think a judge would certainly rule in favor of the plaintiff. So, since it’s clear that both the House and Senate first contemplated using “served” language and then decided to go with “elected” language, a reasonable court could certainly rule in favor of Trump being appointed the role, or running as VP or whatever. And, this court is not that reasonable – I think there’s is little doubt they would rule that way if this were to come before them. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2025, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wont-rule-out-3rd-term/1016371/243 "2025-04-02T21:07:55Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > As one article pointed out, even if Trump couldn’t be president for a 3rd term, he could exert so much behind-the-scenes influence that he becomes a de facto president. It’s not hard to imagine Vance being elected president while Trump is the REAL president and whose word is law. Just like how Putin was the real man in charge when toady Medvedev was officially president. I cannot imagine Vance paying the least attention to Trump. Why would he? I wonder if Trump is running anything currently or just following the project 2025 playbook. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2025, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wont-rule-out-3rd-term/1016371/244 "2025-04-02T21:31:53Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > if Trump couldn’t be president for a 3rd term, he could exert so much behind-the-scenes influence There have been many powerful _éminence grise_ throughout history but 45/47 won’t be one. If not on the throne, he wants to be in front of the throne. He wants the attention. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2025, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wont-rule-out-3rd-term/1016371/245 "2025-04-02T21:48:08Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > There have been many powerful _éminence grise_ throughout history but 45/47 won’t be one. If not on the throne, he wants to be in front of the throne. He wants the attention. Yeah, he’s a compulsive spotlight-grabber; being the power behind the throne just isn’t in him. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2025, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wont-rule-out-3rd-term/1016371/246 "2025-04-02T21:59:54Z")
I know this will be broadly dismissed here, but here’s an original take on why Trump is bringing the third-term thing to the forefront now. **[Simon Rosenberg](https://www.hopiumchronicles.com/p/dems-finding-a-higher-gear-susan)** (my diaresis, bolding, and italics): > As we say here little cracks can become big cracks, little wins can become big ones and courage can become contagious. … [In] politics you can never know when the damn will break, a deal will get done, a bill will pass or an ad or message will break through. You just have to keep at it, relentlessly, until it does. I feel like something has shifted in our politics in the past few weeks. Trump’s invincibility, his “strong man” persona, has been pierced. More are seeing that he isn’t wearing any clothes, more are in their own mind and understanding pulling the curtain back on the Wizard. **The reason Trump has begun floating a third term is that _he is feeling his influence wane_, and he doesn’t want to be a struggling leader who is both losing his grip on Washington AND a lame duck.** Trump is a much weaker leader today than he was a few weeks ago. ---
**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:** [April 2, 2025, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wont-rule-out-3rd-term/1016371/247 "2025-04-02T22:03:42Z")
There is a consideration here we haven’t really explored. Suppose Trump is elected Vice-President with the expectation the President will resign at 12:01pm EST on January 20, 2029. There is a good chance President Greene decides she likes being President and WTF is Donnie going to do about it. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2025, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wont-rule-out-3rd-term/1016371/248 "2025-04-02T22:20:00Z")
I actually think you’re both a bit right: > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Now look at Trump. He wanted to start at the top. All he brought in with him was a handful of people. The Republican party was around long before Trump and it doesn’t belong to Trump the way the Nazi party belonged to Hitler. Yes. Trump has not consolidated power within the GOP the way that Hitler and Mao did in their respective parties. Why? There are a good number of MAGA fanatics in the GOP, but most of these mutherfuckers sold out to Trump not because they really think he’s great but in order to survive and keep making money as politicians. They will make a similar crass, venal move the moment they think Trump is likely to sink their future prospects. This is especially true of the GOP senators. > [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > The cynical manipulators who brought in the fanatics were effortlessly sidelined _by_ those fanatics when Trump showed up and the fanatics liked him more, and can’t do anything about it because those fanatics are too numerous and occupy too many important positions in the party. Trump is the cult leader, not the figurehead. But this is _also_ true because the dum-dums _did_ allow a lot of fanatics in. The questions at this point is, Who is more numerous, powerful, and clever? I don’t think it’s clear which way the battle would go. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2025, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wont-rule-out-3rd-term/1016371/249 "2025-04-02T23:10:40Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > Trump has not consolidated power within the GOP the way that Hitler and Mao did in their respective parties. Why? In part, because he doesn’t need to; the “unconcentrated” power he has in the party from it being full of cultists is more than enough for him to get it to obey him. And Trump ultimately doesn’t care about anything but himself; not the party and not any ideology, just himself. He doesn’t _have_ a goal beyond himself like Hitler or Mao did; so what happens to the party or his followers when the focus of that cult dies doesn’t matter to him. Maybe it all falls apart in infighting, maybe the white nationalists or fundamentalists fully take over, maybe the plutocrats grab back the reigns of power; doesn’t matter to him. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2025, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wont-rule-out-3rd-term/1016371/250 "2025-04-02T23:13:29Z")
I think those on the opposite side of the argument, i.e., those who say that Trump could succeed someone else and serve a third term, have finally provided some cites and their case is more credible. That said, it is still unclear how the Supreme Court would rule on the matter, IMHO. What I _am_ confident in saying, however, is that Trump running as VP so he could serve such an ill-gotten but legal (_if_ legal) third term is a no-go. It’s simply a fundamental weakness going into an election with, “Trump’s gonna be Vice President, but–winky-poo winky-poo–you _know_ what’s gonna happen, doncha?!” Trump won by a slim margin in 2024, so it stands to reason that, unless he is mega-MAGA-popular in 2028 (which I sincerely doubt, based on current results!), he will lose with any significant disadvantages. Running as VP instead of POTUS would be just such a disadvantage: - It’s not a disadvantage in the election per se, but as others have pointed out, the person who is running for POTUS, if elected, is not _required_ to resign. It would be a temptation for _anyone_ to tell Trump to shove it in such a situation and take power for him/herself. - If the scheme is not admitted by Trump, the actual POTUS candidate, etc., in the election (i.e., they are coy about it), then the POTUS candidate will still be accused of the scheme while having to run on his/her own merits. I think this is almost an impossible task and a guaranteed failure. - So they would have to _admit_ the scheme: Trump is running as VP just to garner a third term–clever! But such “cleverness” would put a bad taste in the mouth of a significant percentage of the electorate, even if the Supreme Court were already to have ruled it were legal. Why? It just feels scammy and hacky and bullshitty, that’s why. In a word, it’s lame. Such lameness only has to shave a percentage or two of Trump’s support in order to lose the election. - Further, the whole scheme is un-Trumpian. Trump is the strongman, the god-emperor. Running as VP in order to get in via the back door is weak and off-brand. It doesn’t matter whether they admit the scheme or not: Trump just looks simpy in such a sitch. Thus, even if it were legal, I don’t think such a scheme would result in success, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2025, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wont-rule-out-3rd-term/1016371/251 "2025-04-02T23:14:35Z")
I think you’re absolutely correct on this point, but it does make the fascist position weaker for it. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2025, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wont-rule-out-3rd-term/1016371/252 "2025-04-02T23:24:06Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > There is a consideration here we haven’t really explored. Suppose Trump is elected Vice-President with the expectation the President will resign at 12:01pm EST on January 20, 2029. There is a good chance President Greene decides she likes being President and WTF is Donnie going to do about it. That’s such a Roman empire type of move that I shouldn’t rule it out. But it would be extremely unpopular unless it was completely clear, even to Trump’s core supporters, that the old man had become medically incapable of doing the job. And would-be dictators do care about public opinion. Also, Trump has gotten better at picking subordinates who will remain subordinate. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2025, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wont-rule-out-3rd-term/1016371/253 "2025-04-02T23:34:13Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > What I _am_ confident in saying, however, is that Trump running as VP so he could serve such an ill-gotten but legal (_if_ legal) third term is a no-go. What I suggested in post 239 was that Trump wouldn’t even be on the ticket, but the campaign, featuring Vance and Anybody as candidates, would be waged with the stated purpose of the resignations to happen shortly after 1/20, and Trump would become president, after being confirmed as VP by the majority-GOP Congress. Doubt if this will happen, but it could. Legally. ---
**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:** [April 2, 2025, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wont-rule-out-3rd-term/1016371/254 "2025-04-02T23:38:33Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > But such “cleverness” would put a bad taste in the mouth of a significant percentage of the electorate And you base this on what exactly? I mean, I’m sure you have some polling data that backs that claim, right? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2025, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wont-rule-out-3rd-term/1016371/255 "2025-04-02T23:42:01Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > Further, the whole scheme is un-Trumpian. Trump is the strongman, the god-emperor. Running as VP in order to get in via the back door is weak and off-brand. It doesn’t matter whether they admit the scheme or not: Trump just looks simpy in such a sitch. Yes. I consider it _far_ more likely for him to simply declare himself the winner (whether it works or not) than to try running as VP for any reason. He doesn’t do “cunning” plans, he bulls ahead and dares anyone to stop him. Especially _now,_ when he’s visibly losing it mentally. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2025, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wont-rule-out-3rd-term/1016371/256 "2025-04-03T00:39:23Z")
> The reason Trump has begun floating a third term is that _he is feeling his influence wane_, and he doesn’t want to be a struggling leader who is both losing his grip on Washington AND a lame duck. Trump is a much weaker leader today than he was a few weeks ago. I’m not going to be dismissive of this, although I do tend to see an awful lot of wishful thinking along these lines. Still, Trump is being so reckless that cracks are indeed beginning to appear … > **[Four Senate Republicans join with Democrats to rebuke Trump tariff policy in...](https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/02/politics/senate-vote-tariffs-republicans-trump/index.html)** > > Four Senate Republicans joined with Democrats on Wednesday to deliver a rare bipartisan rebuke to President Donald Trump over trade policy. If this recklessness tanks the economy in a major way, the repercussions could be much bigger. He’s already done enough to be impeached if it were a saner world not infested with intransigent Congressional Republicans. The other thing that might drive him to try for another term is the abundance of potential legal woes that might still await him as a private citizen, which he just narrowly escaped with his election win. ---
**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:** [April 3, 2025, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wont-rule-out-3rd-term/1016371/257 "2025-04-03T01:21:16Z")
> [@](#): > > The four Republicans who voted with Democrats were: Sens. Rand Paul, who cosponsored the resolution, **Susan Collins** , Mitch McConnell and Lisa Murkowski. Looks like we finally found the point at which she becomes concerned enough to actually lift a finger. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2025, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wont-rule-out-3rd-term/1016371/258 "2025-04-03T02:24:04Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > If you want to speculate that really it’s the party using Trump, and they could jettison him at some future point, then fine. > > But I don’t think anyone should take comfort from that because it’s baseless. I one hundred percent agree that people shouldn’t be taking comfort from this. And I feel it’s a major problem that a lot of people are doing so. A lot of people keep thinking that Donald Trump is the problem and that he goes, either by being impeached or retiring or just dying of old age, things will go back to “normal”. Do you seriously think Donald Trump wrote Project 2025? It’s nine hundred pages long. It’s doubtful he’s even read it. The same thing about voter suppression. Do you think Trump wrote those bills? But somebody did. Some group of Republicans sat down and wrote out a detailed plan for turning the United States into a one-party dictatorship. And while Trump is rambling on about deporting Venezuelans and invading Greenland, that group of Republicans is working on carrying out their plan. That group of Republicans is a lot more dangerous than Donald Trump is. And when Trump is gone and people are breathing a sigh of relief, that group of Republicans will still be around. ---
**Author:** ![Procacious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Procacious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procacious)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2025, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wont-rule-out-3rd-term/1016371/259 "2025-04-03T02:31:51Z")
I actually think that quote is more telling than the author may have realized. The press began calling Trump a Lame Duck (an obnoxious misuse of the term) and he found an effective counter to it. By saying he is open to a third term it eliminates their ability to call him a lame duck for the entire 4-year term (instead of just during the last 2.5 months, after someone else had been elected, which would be appropriate). ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2025, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wont-rule-out-3rd-term/1016371/260 "2025-04-03T04:04:55Z")
Something similar happened in Minnesota in 1976, after Walter Mondale resigned to become Carter’s VP. The then-governor Wendell Anderson resigned, and in a back-room deal his Lt Governor who became governor appointed Anderson to the Senate to complete the last two years of Mondale’s term. (They were all Democrats.) Two years later, Anderson lost decisively in his reelection bid, due to the scandal of how got into the senate in the first place. (In typical Minnesota-nice fashion, he resigned a few days before his term ended so the person that Anderson lost to, Rudy Boschwitz, would have seniority over other new Senators.) The new governor who had appointed Anderson also lost his reelection bid in a state-wide route for Democrats that year. The people of Minnesota were pissed! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wont-rule-out-3rd-term/1016371.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-wont-rule-out-3rd-term/1016371.md?page=14)