The ways that Trump could snatch a third term

Politico

31-01-2025

It's the stuff of liberal nightmares and MAGA dreams: Four years from now, Donald Trump once again raising his right hand and taking the oath of office.
But it can't happen, right? After all, the Constitution imposes an explicit two-term limit on the presidency — even if those two terms, like Trump's, are non-consecutive. 'No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice,' the 22nd Amendment mandates.
Trump is notorious for bending norms. This one would be a difficult hurdle to climb, but if he wants to remain in power, there are ways for him to do so — legal and otherwise. And Trump, of course, already has a track record of trying to remain in office beyond his lawful tenure.
For now, it remains a far-off possibility. But it's one that constitutional experts are already thinking about. POLITICO's James Romoser investigated the ways through which Trump could try to seize power once again.
Read the story.
'Bobby may play nice; I won't.'
Can you guess who said this about Republican Senators on the fence about confirming Robert F. Kennedy Jr.? Scroll to the bottom for the answer.**
It's been a head-spinning start to the second Trump administration, as the president and his advisors have moved to 'flood the zone' since taking office two weeks ago. Between the deluge of executive orders, the rollout (and reversal) of controversial new policies and the steady stream of fiery confirmation hearings, it's all too much news for mere mortals to process. Here are some talking points to sprinkle through your weekend conversations to make it seem like you're totally on top of the news. (From POLITICO Reporter Ian Ward).
A neo-reactionary wants to chop the Gordian Knot … For over a decade, Curtis Yarvin, an ex-computer programmer-turned-blogger, has argued that American democracy is irrevocably broken and ought to be replaced with a monarchy styled after a Silicon Valley tech start-up. According to Yarvin, the time has come to jettison existing democratic institutions and concentrate political power on a single 'chief executive' or 'dictator.' These ideas — which Yarvin calls 'neo-reaction' or 'the Dark Enlightenment' — were once confined to the fringes of the internet, but now, with Trump's reelection, they are finding a newly powerful audience in Washington. POLITICO Magazine's Ian Ward spoke to Yarvin this week, who told him, 'In almost every way, JD [Vance] is perfect.'
Don't get your hopes up about those JFK documents … A close reading of President Donald Trump's new order to declassify documents related to the JFK assassination suggests that Americans who hope they are now only days away from the full truth about Kennedy's death will face disappointment, writes Philip Shenon. The order contains loopholes that could delay the release of any documents indefinitely. And as in his first term, loyal, Trump-named political appointees at the CIA, FBI and elsewhere — not the 'deep state' career civil servants he often denounces — will almost certainly try to persuade him to continue to withhold some material on national security grounds.
TikTok goes the clock … On his first day in office, President Donald Trump declared that he would effectively ignore the law, and so TikTok lives, argues Rules of Law columnist Ankush Khardori. In the process, Trump effectively immunized a slew of large corporations from devastating financial penalties that were dictated by Congress, and he has created a precedent — that he can direct his own administration to ignore laws that he believes are politically or personally unhelpful to him — that ought to trouble Republicans and Democrats alike.
The tariff threat might just be real … Donald Trump launched a two-year trade war against China during his first term in the White House, and he's poised to do it again, writes Bob Davis. Even before being sworn in, Trump threatened China with 60 percent tariffs to cut its trade surplus, 10 percent tariffs if it didn't halt fentanyl shipments and 100 percent tariffs if it tried to create a rival currency to the dollar. On his second day in office, he announced the first wave of tariffs would hit China on Feb. 1. Of course, this may be bluster or a negotiating tactic. But with Trump, you never know, which makes his tariff threats that much more effective.
From the drafting table of editorial cartoonist Matt Wuerker.
Who Dissed? answer: It was Nicole Shanahan, RFK Jr.'s former running mate. She was specifically threatening these Senators with funding political primaries against them.
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