Republican President Donald Trump said on Sunday he was not joking about seeking a third presidential term, which is barred by the U.S. Constitution, but that it was too early to think about doing so.

Trump, who took office on January 20 for his second, non-consecutive White House term, has made vague allusions to seeking a third one but addressed it directly on Sunday in a telephone interview with NBC News.

“No, I’m not joking. I’m not joking,” Trump said, but “it is far too early to think about it.”

“There are, there are methods which you could do it, as you know,” he said. He declined to elaborate on any specific methods.

    • Avid Amoeba
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      91 month ago

      You can’t go further away from communism than this, so they’re… doing their job?

    • St3alth
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      31 month ago

      Fun fact: The CIA has limited authority to operate on American soil.

        • Lady Butterfly
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          11 month ago

          This is a ridiculous thing to say and you should take it back. They do matter, they just don’t apply or matter to him.

  • @Doctor_Satan@lemm.ee
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    “There are, there are methods which you could do it, as you know,”

    Those methods are:

    Serving as VP, followed by ascension - The 12th Amendment says no one ineligible to be president can be VP, but the 22nd Amendment only bars election to a third term, not holding office. Trump could potentially be Vance’s (or someone else’s) VP, then that President resigns, making Trump president for a third term without being elected. This is legally untested and would be widely challenged. It doesn’t seem like a route Trump would take.

    Repealing the 22nd Amendment - This requires the proposal and ratification of a new amendment. This new amendment must be passed by a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress, or by a constitutional convention called by two-thirds of state legislatures, followed by ratification from three-fourths of the states. This is an unlikely path for Trump to take. Even with massive cheating, he would never get the numbers in his favor.

    Ignoring the 22nd Amendment - AKA the “what the fuck you gonna do” method, which the Trump regime has employed with great success in lots of other areas. This is almost certainly what he means.

    Any other method to remain president, such as declaring martial law, declaring a national emergency, using the Insurrection Act, etc, would basically be a military coup that would spark a civil war and Balkanize the US.

  • He doesn’t lie about what he wants to do.

    He lies about his accomplishments.

    It’s been like this since his first term. He’s not lying about invading Greenland or punishing Canada into being the 51st state. He absolutely wants to. Assuming (hopefully) that both these endeavors never materialize, he will claim that these threats accomplished some other goal that was made up on the spot. Which will be a lie.

    • @arkanoid@lemmy.ca
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      41 month ago

      Same. I mean…I know he has the best medical care possible…but he’s old AF, fat, does not exercise, his brain is quickly turning further into mush, and no matter how much his handlers insulate him from doing actual work, he still has an insanely stressful job. I don’t see how he makes it to 2028 without major health problems up to and including stroke, heart attack, and/or death.

      • @Bytemeister@lemmy.world
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        31 month ago

        I meant that the people with guns and violent tendencies are getting pissed off. Republicans won’t show up in their own districts/townhall meetings anymore. Thomas Crooks took a shot at trump before all of the recent problems he’s caused. I can’t imagine him holding an open air rally anywhere in the US right now.

        Yes, he is still popular among Republicans, but he only needs to be extremely unpopular with just one psychotic gun nut, and he’s pissed a lot of them off recently.

        • Lady Butterfly
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          31 month ago

          Yep, he’s divisive and stirs up extreme emotions. It only takes one person. I thought assassination as soon as I read your first comment

      • @ZoopZeZoop@lemmy.world
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        71 month ago

        The line of succession does not get any better. Vance will be a puppet, but he will also be more cruel to try to show that he’s as good as DJT. He can’t command DJT’s followers like DJT. So, he’s going to try to control them in other ways. That’s when things will get out of hand.

  • @wandrinstar@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    1 month ago

    until it’s actually time for the next election, all of the third term bullshit is functionally serving only to distract from signalgate and dismantling the courts/gov etc. do not lose focus. (edit: typo fix)

    • @Maggoty@lemmy.world
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      101 month ago

      Asylum isn’t that easy unless they declare a general asylum for a country. You have to prove you specifically are in danger. Just having an authoritarian government doesn’t count.

    • @Aganim@lemmy.world
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      Good luck with that, I’d try to emigrate beforehand. There will be no chance in hell you’d qualify once Trump goes Putin and everybody not on the GOP’s bandwagon is fucked and wants to get out.

  • @Riccosuave@lemmy.world
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    The strategy is really simple, and I don’t know why it isn’t obvious to everyone. The Republican party will simply refuse to run a candidate in 2028. They will claim that the country is under hostile occupation by Marxists who are attempting to destroy the United States from within and Trump will just refuse to leave office after the mid-terms (if we even make it that far before he declares war & martial law).

    They don’t need to cancel, manipulate, or legally challenge anything. At that point, it doesn’t fucking matter what happens with the election because there is no legal mechanism to enforce the removal of the regime. They are going to dare the courts, the police, and the military to try and forcibly remove them, which we all know will not happen. Then just rule by fiat forever.

    The End.

    • @merc@sh.itjust.works
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      I still have some hope that if there is an overwhelming support for democrats in the midterms, crisis might be averted. It will have to be overwhelming support, because the GOP are going to play every dirty trick possible to cancel elections, jail candidates, etc.

      If that happens, impeachment and removal actually becomes possible. And, even if he isn’t impeached, a democrat controlled legislature could reassert their power and take his away. After all, these “executive orders” he keeps issuing are nothing more than memos from a boss to his subordinates about how he wants an agency to be run. They don’t have the force of laws, laws are exclusively within the authority of the legislature.

      OTOH, I think the US is a profoundly sick country, and despite everything Trump still have a huge base of support, so a massive, overwhelming election for democrats is just about impossible.

    • @Zer0_F0x@lemmy.world
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      281 month ago

      They’ll probably do something more stupid than that, like replacing him with one of his sons with the promise that daddy Trump will keep running everything regardless

      • @Riccosuave@lemmy.world
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        191 month ago

        Perhaps. I think it is much more likely that Thiel & Musk attempt to wait Trump’s death out and then install Vance, which will ultimately be the crescendo that causes large scale civil unrest because everybody fucking hates him.

    • @Revan343@lemmy.ca
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      151 month ago

      Then just rule by fiat forever. The End.

      I don’t think it actually ends that way, but I think you’re right about them aiming for it

      • @Riccosuave@lemmy.world
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        To be clear, I agree with you. I was being hyperbolic about the “rule forever” part because nothing last forever.

        However, I think they are drunk enough on their own power to believe they can outlast all of us, and it remains to be seen, in the short term, whether they are right…

    • @hansolo@lemm.ee
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      421 month ago

      Literally the farthest the conspiracy theories went in 2012 is where we’re headed. Martial law, false flags, posse comitatus, seizing guns.

  • @reluctant_squidd@lemmy.ca
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    21 month ago

    It’s like the more backwards, upside down and wrong it seems, the more serious he actually is.

    Especially “covefefe”. Never forget!

    • @MsPenguinette@lemmy.world
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      81 month ago

      But he knows his followers defend him by always claiming he’s joking and he’s wanting everyone to know for sure he means it

        • Lady Butterfly
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          51 month ago

          He really is a psychopath, he shows the warning signs. He can’t have a proper sense of humour when he doesn’t have normal emotions

      • RoundSparrow @ .ee
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        221 month ago

        He has zero sense of humour: an inherent inability to recognize or invoke it.

        There is a humor-like mocking of watching human beings suffer at the hands of government and business systems, “human tears”, “liberal tears”, “Ukraine tears”, values of winning and defeating humanism with systems of power. Donald Trump is very motivated and works many hours to socially arrange this domination and damage over human persons that don’t please his ego.

    • @Hubi@feddit.org
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      251 month ago

      It should be clear by now that any “rule” the Trump administration comes up with only applies to themselves.

    • @sndmn@lemmy.ca
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      501 month ago

      That’s adorable how you think there might ever be another free and fair election in the US.

    • @givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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      01 month ago

      Why?

      Don’t get me wrong, 08 was literally the only time I’ve been able to vote for what I wanted rather than just against a Republican…

      But by 2012 we knew it was all bullshit and most people were holding their noses again.

      We need a candidate like Obama in 08, not 2012 Obama after we found out he wasn’t much better

        • @givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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          11 month ago

          At the time of his presidency Carter was fighting a movement from the Dem voters who said he was too conservative for them. Their concern was politicians kept moving to the right, and they were concerned what would happen if there was no left party anymore…

          People today thinking of Carter as a leftist is very unuronic, and what our grandparents were afraid of

          • @merc@sh.itjust.works
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            01 month ago

            What I think is more important is that Carter was sincere and he lived his values.

            I don’t even know what Clinton, Obama and Biden truly believed. They were so willing to compromise and work with both parties to get things done that whatever they believed didn’t really matter.

            Even if Carter’s beliefs were on the right edge if the Democratic Party of his time, IMO it’s important that they were sincerely held, and that he wasn’t wiling to compromise. I think a lot of voters have been looking for that for a long time. It’s why Hillary Clinton was so unpopular, because she was seen as such a Washington insider. It’s also why some of Trump’s early supporters had previously been Bernie supporters. IMO Trump doesn’t actually have any sincerely held beliefs, but you can’t accuse him of compromising with the left just to get deals done.

            • @givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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              -11 month ago

              So you acknowledge Carter’s right leanings were a problem, not what voters wanted, and that it started a trend we’ve wasted 50 years on and led to Republicans becoming more and more extreme to the point trump is on his second term…

              But you’re just ok with that

              Because you think Carter wasn’t smart enough to see where his policy would lead? Even when the majority of Dem voters kept screaming it?

        • @givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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          -51 month ago

          Who said that?

          He was the most progressive president of my lifetime…

          And as Americans we should all be ashamed the bar is that low.

          We need to do better moving forward, if the goal is always “be what it was like 20 years ago” then how the fuck isn’t it a conservative party?

          If that’s what you want, go moderate the Republican party.

          Your ideas ruined one of two political parties, then moved to the only other option and insisted you know better than the people who actually pay attention

          • @TronBronson@lemmy.world
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            01 month ago

            You said “not 2012 Obama after we found out he wasn’t much better”? Better than what?

            My ideas? What ideas lmao? My ideas that obama was more progressive than GWB in every aspect? He was more progressive than Bill Clinton. Who was the ideal dem candidate in 2012?

            Are you the Democrat police now? I asked you to explain your statement and you tell me i should go to the republican party and accused me, single handedly destroying a political party? Because I’m such an influencial person in the Democratic party they’ve been taking my opinions for the last 15 years. Clearly. You seem well…adjusted?

            • @givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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              1 month ago

              You said “not 2012 Obama after we found out he wasn’t much better

              I literally didn’t…

              But by 2012 we knew it was all bullshit and most people were holding their noses again.

              People voted for change in 2008.

              In 2012 they voted to not have a Republican.

              You seem well…adjusted?

              I think the issue is I said one thing, you’ve clearly misinterpreted it…

              And now you want me to defend a position you made up for me.

              Why would anyone spend their free time doing that, even without you insulting them?

              Why would anyone every help you understand things?

              • @TronBronson@lemmy.world
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                11 month ago

                I just quoted it underneath the original comment so you can just check that out and I’ll take an apology whenever.

                It’s litterally the last sentence in the comment I replied to so yes, I ask you again. Are you okay or did a reach a different person than the one who wrote the comment with this screen name?

        • @TronBronson@lemmy.world
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          01 month ago

          Yea i mean, if you think about it Trump is the most progressive candidate in 100 years. He’s completely destroying the system we’ve been trying to conserve and turning us into a vibe based government. It’s truly a progressive political experiment and I’m glad these progressives can finally get some real progress.

          Destroying US institutions is the only thing the far left and right agree on. Yay progress.

        • @arrow74@lemm.ee
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          21 month ago

          50 state governments administer the election independently in each state.

          Civil war 2?

        • @LeninOnAPrayer@lemm.ee
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          21 month ago

          I’m 50/50 on this. I think it will depend on if we’re in a full out WW3 by then. But you are correct. It’s important the illusion of democracy continues. It’s been an illusion for most of American history though.

            • @LeninOnAPrayer@lemm.ee
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              The Civil war is not the historical comparison to make. This is significantly more similar to Italy under Mussolini or Germany under Hitler. There is no clear state divide and geographical boundary set like that today. There is absolutely no chance of a Civil War.

              Look at the leaders of every blue state trying to find their position in the new fascist state we have. Gavin Newsom being the most obvious example.

              They will allow the purge of what the fascist consider “undesirables” from their state as long as they keep their position in the ruling class safe.

              There will be no civil war. The only war to be fought within America is a class war.

    • RoundSparrow @ .ee
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      51 month ago

      Then have Obama run against him.

      Every social media platform has these kind of answers. As of Obama would even desire a third term, he isn’t an egomania admirer like Donald Trump. Barack Obama is an intelligent, thoughtful, moral leader who values education and understanding. He isn’t a entertainer who values wrecking humanism and creating maximum content animation for news networks and social media consumers to react-comment to.

      • @antisocialite@lemmy.today
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        61 month ago

        It’s just a thought experiment to imagine MAGA heads exploding. Trump is only talking about it to distract from the Signal scandal.

        • RoundSparrow @ .ee
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          11 month ago

          It’s just a thought experiment to imagine MAGA heads exploding.

          Fantasy. Simulacra. MAGA is death-wishing people that disagree with Elon Musk and Donald Trump values and leadership. Pretty much the entire nation is adopting death-wishing and social machine conventions of mass dehumanization. Trending towards more and more self-destruction as a nation.

            • RoundSparrow @ .ee
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              -11 month ago

              Not sure what your point is and I’m not interested.

              Repeating: “MAGA is death-wishing people that disagree with Elon Musk and Donald Trump values and leadership.”

              And you see value in using Lemmy social machine systems to announce that you are not interested. That in itself says a lot about the current state of affairs.

  • @Bubbaonthebeach@lemmy.ca
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    31 month ago

    If anything says “I don’t give a shit about the constitution or laws” this is it. Unless he can use it against someone else, Trump has no time for legality of anything. He doesn’t abide by it if it interferes with his wants.