# Will Trump run for another term as President? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [August 9, 2026, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-run-for-another-term-as-president/1032236 "2026-08-09T00:49:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2026, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-run-for-another-term-as-president/1032236/41 "2026-08-09T19:00:20Z")
He only needs a few. And he has his own personal army for that. Agree that he will probably die first. Get ready for VP Donald Trump Jr. ---
**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:** [August 9, 2026, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-run-for-another-term-as-president/1032236/42 "2026-08-09T19:03:32Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > He only needs a few. And he has his own personal army for that. What you’re describing is a civil war. Hardly what I’d call “peanuts”. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2026, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-run-for-another-term-as-president/1032236/43 "2026-08-09T19:23:35Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > You don’t _become_ a dictator when you’re 82 years old, seriously ill, and two-thirds of the country hates you. Philippe Pétain was 84. Was Pétain in good health for his age? Yes. Was he in better health than Donald Trump is now? We simply do not know. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2026, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-run-for-another-term-as-president/1032236/44 "2026-08-09T19:27:59Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > You don’t _become_ a dictator when you’re 82 years old, seriously ill, and two-thirds of the country hates you. Which has no bearing on whether he _wants_ to do it, and whether he might _try_ to do it. ---
**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:** [August 9, 2026, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-run-for-another-term-as-president/1032236/45 "2026-08-09T19:29:12Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > Philippe Pétain was 84. And he was a beloved war hero and had a foreign power install him after invading and conquering the country. ---
**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:** [August 9, 2026, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-run-for-another-term-as-president/1032236/46 "2026-08-09T19:29:47Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Which has no bearing on whether he _wants_ to do it, and whether he might _try_ to do it He might try. If he does, he WILL fail. This idea that “All he has to do is XYZ and everyone will fall in line behind Emperor Trump” is silly. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2026, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-run-for-another-term-as-president/1032236/47 "2026-08-09T19:47:09Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Anyway he’ll try to do it by creating another emergency just like he does on any day of the week that ends in ‘y’ Invasion of Canada because we’re all communists. I’m seeing a LOT of traffic on social media these days playing up how horrible Canada is. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2026, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-run-for-another-term-as-president/1032236/48 "2026-08-09T19:52:45Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > He might try. If he does, he WILL fail. If everyone insists that his failure is inevitable and that we don’t need to worry about it, he WILL succeed. I think he’ll fail, and I hope he’ll fail. But if he does, it’ll be because of a lot of people not just taking that for granted, and taking concrete steps to ensure that he fails. ---
**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:** [August 9, 2026, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-run-for-another-term-as-president/1032236/49 "2026-08-09T19:54:02Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Invasion of Canada because we’re all communists. He’s too chickenshit to invade Iran. No way he’ll invade a country that’s close enough to shoot back. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2026, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-run-for-another-term-as-president/1032236/50 "2026-08-09T19:54:52Z")
If a Democrat wins the 2028 election, he could claim there are issues with certifying the Democratic electors, and rather than allowing the country to fall into chaos, the biggest patriot in the history of the country will stay on as caretaker. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2026, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-run-for-another-term-as-president/1032236/51 "2026-08-09T20:12:38Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > > [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > > > Invasion of Canada because we’re all communists. > > He’s too chickenshit to invade Iran. No way he’ll invade a country that’s close enough to shoot back. You’re correct of course. Plus, I do have hope that the military will simply “not hear” any orders like that from him. Will he run for another term? I agree with most here - no. He may make noises with his mouth hole like that, but he will not run, because he cannot run, and there is no path whatsoever to get him on the state’s ballots. ---
**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:** [August 9, 2026, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-run-for-another-term-as-president/1032236/52 "2026-08-09T20:25:11Z")
> [@whitetho](#): > > If a Democrat wins the 2028 election, he could claim there are issues with certifying the Democratic electors It’s not the president’s job to “certify the electors”. Elections are certified by state governments and the electoral votes are counted by Congress in a process that is, as of 2022, strictly ceremonial. > [@whitetho](#): > > and rather than allowing the country to fall into chaos, the biggest patriot in the history of the country will stay on as caretaker. In this scenario where there is no duly elected president at the end of his term, the Speaker of the House would become president. Which in 2029 will probably be Hakeem Jeffries. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2026, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-run-for-another-term-as-president/1032236/53 "2026-08-09T20:32:33Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > It’s not the president’s job to “certify the electors”. Elections are certified by state governments and the electoral votes are counted by Congress in a process that is, as of 2022, strictly ceremonial. This, and your other points, keep coming down to you, and others in this discussion (and similar discussions in other threads), trying to make different arguments. Your arguments boil down to “it will not happen, because he legally **can not**.” Others keep pointing out, “he doesn’t give a damn about laws, and maybe he tries to do something extralegal.” You’re talking past everyone else, and everyone else is talking past you. ---
**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:** [August 9, 2026, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-run-for-another-term-as-president/1032236/54 "2026-08-09T20:46:25Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Your arguments boil down to “it will not happen, because he legally **can not**.” Others keep pointing out, “he doesn’t give a damn about laws, and maybe he tries to do something extralegal.” My argument is that his **ability** to “do something extralegal” does not amount to being able to unilaterally nullify an election and he has no means to carry out the things people are proposing he can just do. “He’ll say the electors can’t be certified!”. OK. And THEN what? How does he stop the states from certifying electors or Congress from counting them? Because we saw his best attempt at doing that six years ago and it was a colossal failure. “He’ll declare the election invalid!” HOW? “He’ll declare an emergency and say the election has to be postponed!” How does he force the states to comply? There’s no way short of a full-blown civil war. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2026, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-run-for-another-term-as-president/1032236/55 "2026-08-09T20:47:38Z")
It is like asking “Will Bobby Joe try to rob the bank?” and getting back a response of “Of course not, because it is against the law” and others even adding “…so there is no need to even worry about it.” ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2026, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-run-for-another-term-as-president/1032236/56 "2026-08-09T20:54:56Z")
No. He just loves to get the left all wound up be saying stupid shit. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2026, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-run-for-another-term-as-president/1032236/57 "2026-08-09T20:56:14Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > My argument is that his **ability** to “do something extralegal” does not amount to being able to unilaterally nullify an election and he has no means to carry out the things people are proposing he can just do. But, as has been shown in multiple other instances of what you or I would call extra-legal actions, he’s _frequently_ offered outlier explanations of why it’s actually _legal_ after all. Sure, they’re often overturned (though often with months or years of delay), but not always. In multiple threads, theories have already been presented on how running for a third term, or at least, alternate ways to stay in power could be considered legal, if of course, _untested_ options. I don’t think the common “non-consecutive” legal theory would work, but the whole “elected” dodge (making a compliant tool run for Pres. with Trump as VP and stepping down) is _slightly_ more plausible. At least, again, letting the SCOTUS make the choices. And in my scenario above, if the states refused to comply, _prior to any decision by the SCOTUS_ then he’s likely to get the response that he’s still acting within legal authority until the courts judge. ---
**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:** [August 9, 2026, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-run-for-another-term-as-president/1032236/58 "2026-08-09T20:56:21Z")
And when I ask you HOW Billie Joe will rob the bank, your answer is either “He’ll just do it and nobody will stop him” or “He’ll melt the safe door with his laser eyes”. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2026, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-run-for-another-term-as-president/1032236/59 "2026-08-09T21:04:55Z")
Most (if not all) coups aren’t done legally. They are accomplished because the people behind them have control of enough military power to enforce their will and seize power. I admire your clear certainty that this simply **can not happen here** , and I sure hope that you are correct. Not everyone here (or in this country) shares that certainty, given how much damage has been done to our country in the past few years. Perhaps, maybe try to understand _why_ people are worried about the possibility, rather than making post after post to try to shout them down. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2026, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-run-for-another-term-as-president/1032236/60 "2026-08-09T21:06:11Z")
It depends on his health and when the rest of the GOP decides to dump him. If he’s at the same level of derangement and dysfunction as he currently holds, they’ll probably keep riding him and he’ll run. I find it unlikely that the institutions of the states or the federal government will stop him. The constitution is a piece of paper that no one is fighting for today, why would that be any different then? The constitution already bans insurrectionists from running and yet only one state put up a real fight and lost. Our current situation is not only defined by the flagrant lawlessness of the republican party, but the spinelessness of the democrats and our institutions. They’ve captured federal lawmaking and the supreme court. We’ve proven the rule of law is over already and he’s above the law. So the only question is whether he’ll be alive and basically ambulatory. If so, he will run. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-run-for-another-term-as-president/1032236.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-run-for-another-term-as-president/1032236.md?page=4)