What does all this "Trump 2028" stuff mean?

Politics & Elections
1

Trump has started using the phrase “Trump 2028”. People have asked him if he’s planning on a third term and he’s played coy.

He was asked directly if he thinks he can have a third term and he answered "Everybody asks me that question, and, you know, that the law is very strong on that. I’d love to run, but the law is very strong. I get asked by everyone. Even tonight, they’re screaming at the event, ‘2028!’ No, everybody wants me to do it, but the law is very strong.”

So Trump seems to understand he is legally barred from getting elected again. At least in his lucid moments.

What’s this all about then?

Is this just an ego thing? If so, it’s a strange one. Why would Trump tie his ego to something he can’t have? It’s just setting him up for a future fall when he can’t achieve the goal he’s been pushing.

Or is Trump’s talk about the law just a smokescreen? Trump has broken a lot of laws and gotten away with it. Does he now think he can illegally run for President and nobody will stop him? Or does he think he can just cancel the election and stay in power?

Or is Trump’s talk about the law pointing in another direction? Has somebody in Trump’s inner circle convinced him they can get the 22nd Amendment revoked before 2028 and he can run for a legal third term? Does Trump think he could win if he was legally allowed to run? Has anybody told Trump that if the 22nd Amendment is revoked Barack Obama will legally be able to run against him?

Or is this all just a smokescreen and Trump is trying to divert attention from current topics like his crimes, his diminishing health, his failed economic policies, the collapsing war in Iran, poor Republican chances in the 2026 election, and his own plummeting poll numbers by talking about a problem that’s two years away?

Or am I looking for a plan where there is none? Maybe somebody just sent him a “Trump 2028” hat and he’s temporarily fixated on it. Next week Trump will be saying he deserves an EGOT and that’ll make as much sense.

2

Bullshitters bullshit.

3

All of these things are equally possible with this administration.

4

He’s just trolling the libs.

5

I think it’s mostly that it feeds his ego and keeps attention on him.

He knows that in a few months, the “shadow primary” will start and political attention will shift elsewhere. This is his way of staying relevant and on peoples’ minds. It gives his sycophants something more to flatter him with, and it is something he wishes could happen even when he knows there’s no way it will.

6

And giving them something to talk about that doesn’t harm him or his interests.

7

He’s always enjoyed campaigning more than actually being president and is self-soothing so he doesn’t feel like a lame duck.

8

It’s not quite trolling or ego feeding. It’s one of his typical tactics - he likes throwing lots of ideas against the wall and seeing what sticks, regardless of practicality or legality.

If it looks like there are (“important”, however he defines that) people open to the idea, he’ll push harder. If enough people are open to it, constitutional crisis guaranteed.

If nobody is biting, he’ll drop it. Maybe even pretend it was a ‘joke’ or just a slogan for selling merch.

And that’s the thing. Things work because people let them. And he has a long history of people letting him get away with things. There’s not a lot of strategy or thought behind it. If it works again, great for him. If not, he drops it and moves onto one of the other dozen things he’s tossed at the wall.

9

As with a past amendment, the only way to repeal a Constitutional amendment is by passing another amendment. There is no way, our insane ScotUS not withstanding, to simply revoke an amendment.

10

I think all of these replies are touching on the truth here. I can’t pretend to understand what passes through the miasma of narcissism that constitutes his “mind”, nor what Nazis like Stephen Miller are telling him behind closed doors. All of that is little more than speculation. And it’s perfectly possible that there are multiple things going on here.

When he leaves office he’ll be subject to the law again. That has to be weighing on him mentally.

People like Miller and other advisors are almost certainly floating the idea of a third term to him for their own purposes. For all of his narcissism, it’s well established that he’s very suggestible with flattery.

So people bring up the 2028 thing to him. He repeats it in front of cameras. So journalists and reporters HAVE to ask this question, they would be derelict in their responsibilities if they weren’t asking this question. And through the lens of his narcissism every single inquiry, even if it carries an undertone of “Constitutional Crisis”, becomes “this person wants me to run again! Why wouldn’t they? I’m the greatest president who’s ever lived!”

It acts as a smoke screen against the Epstein files, the Iran war, inflation and the general state of the economy at the moment, etc… so it is providing him immediate utility. All of the so-called construction projects that he is implementing in Washington are serving the same purpose. He doesn’t want to talk about the things that are plunging his approval ratings consistently into the low 30s.

Does he want to? Yes I think he does. Trump doesn’t value democracy as a principal. That requires recognizing inherent agency and value in other human beings. He doesn’t have that capability.

Will he do it? How will he do it? I don’t know and I don’t think Trump himself knows at this point. I think he’s mulling it over. I think if somebody convinces him that it’s possible he’ll try. In the meantime flirting with the idea is giving him what he wants without committing to it. As election day in 2028 approaches we may or may not see more concrete statements one way or the other.

11

I agree with all of the above reasoning, and would add: it gives him yet another rationale for fundraising emails to his faithful.

12

To add to what the others said, I think the reason Trump keeps saying “Trump 2028!” is because it flatters him to think that he’s the only president in modern US history to be “so popular that people keep touting him for a 3rd term.” He tells himself, “Did people say Reagan 1988, or Clinton 2000, or Bush 2008, or Obama 2016? No. But they say Trump 2028. This means I am so beloved that, even though unconstitutional, people WANT me for a longer time in office than any other such president! (other than FDR)”

The obvious logical rebuttal would be, “Well duh, of course, Donald, nobody said those things because all those presidents knew full well they couldn’t have a third term, so they didn’t even float the idea at all.” But that may go over his head.

13

Aren’t the four oldest Trumplings legally eligible in 2028?

14

I do like I did with my toddlers. “Ignore bad behavior”

He’s just swimming for strokes.

15

It’s this more than anything, I think.

I’ve always likened him to a thief. He will try every door, push every opening and see how much loot he can get away with. And by “loot,” I mean both tangible assets and power grabs.

As others have said, he only stops when we eventually stop him, but he is relentless in his efforts at thievery.

16

I’m going to provide 3 theories.

Trump is a bad negotiator in one very specific way
The concept of “anchoring” works both ways during negotiation, and this is a concept that Trump understands very well and uses at every turn. He’s always going to anchor his position at the most ludicrous end of any spectrum. His starting position is always that he has absolute power, that he doesn’t have to listen to the courts, that he doesn’t have to disclose anything, that he can use whatever resources are available to him and he doesn’t have to pay for them. This has been his MO since he was stiffing NYC contractors in the '80s – “My initial offer for the work you’ve already done is $0. Feel free to counter.”

He uses this same tactic to control the public discourse. Minor (invented) trade squabbles with Canada? “My opening position is the total surrender and annexation of your entire country.” Debate about Abrego Garcia? “My opening position is that he’s a murderous gang member who has no rights.” What to do about Gaza? “My opening position is that US-backed interests take control of the region and turn it into a resort.”

These are always ridiculous positions, but they anchor the discourse there so we have to fight and claw in courts to get the most egregious wrongs righted, and meanwhile he’s getting away with all kinds of stuff. This is no different. “My opening position is that the constitution doesn’t really apply to me and I’m eligible to run for a 4th term, your move.”

Trump has no good ideas
There’s no rational way for the constitution not to apply here, and he’s incapable of hiring clever people who might sort it out for him. Instead, he throws out his crazy ideas and lets the pundits solve his problem for him. I’ve always hated how Trump can say the most poorly-thought-out ideas and all of the smart people in politics get spun up treating them like they’re actual exercises. He’ll revoke birthright citizenship by executive order, which is a nonsense thing to do that requires basically no effort on his part, and then NPR reports will waste hours of air time debating the legal reality. Sometimes they’ll debate it so long that an actual path to reality emerges.

Don’t believe me? This thread is my cite – look at all of us smart people taking this seriously.

It’s Schrodinger’s campaign
If the pundits work this out, then he can say, “Aha, that’s what I meant all along.” If it actually looks like he’s got no path (probably due to a lack of popularity than any legal roadblock), then he’s “just kidding, and YOU fell for it!”

17

Yes, though I don’t think that having one of his spawn as President is what Trump wants. Certainly, if Don Jr. or Ivanka became President, it’s likely that they would pardon him (which would lessen, but not eliminate, his legal issues). However, he is, at his core, a complete narcissist, and it is all about him.

I believe that he doesn’t give a damn about a dynasty, and he doesn’t give a damn about what historians will say about him after he dies; what he cares about is about the power, money, and attention which he has while he is alive.

18

Yes, though “self-pardon” has not been ruled out, and likely would NOT be ruled out by the Roberts Court.

I agree with you that Donald has no interest in anything Don Jr. or Eric do, and his interest in what Ivanka does is waning with every passing day (she’s 44 now). A “dynasty” doesn’t flatter his ego, somehow. (Apparently narcissists can differ on this.)

19

There’s also the fact that he’s already tried to steal an election once. He’s not opposed to the idea of undermining Democratic principles. History demonstrates this. It would be perilous to assume that he won’t try something similar again.

20

Not to mention the ongoing opportunity to sucker more “campaign” fund donations out of MAGA rubes.