Posted on 04/25/2025 10:33:54 AM PDT by Twotone
The president has previously said he was looking into serving a third term.
Democrats and others on the left melted down on Thursday after the official website for President Donald Trump began selling merchandise for a possible 2028 campaign.
The president is prohibited by the Constitution from being president more than two four-year terms because of the 22nd Amendment. Trump's allies have hinted that his supporters may mount a campaign to undo the rule in order to allow him to serve for a third term.
One shirt reads "TRUMP 2028" with the text "(Rewrite the Rules)" and sells for $36. The president's son Eric Trump posted a link to the store on his official social media account. A red 2028 hat sold for $50.
Democrats pounced on the news to criticize Trump.
"Trump’s organization is out here selling Trump 2028 hats like the Constitution is just a suggestion. Reminder: The 22nd Amendment exists. You can’t run for a third term," responded Democrat Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas.
"Everyone will say Trump is just joking. Or that he is trolling. That may be true. But with each 'joke' it becomes more and more serious until we’re actually confronting a man that feels emboldened to try to run for a thirdterm," replied Jessica Tarlov, a liberal commentator on Fox News.
"So Americans are just gonna sit idly by and let a dictator take control? actual spineless country," said another detractor.
"Soft launching a fascist dictatorship is insane," read another critic's missive.
Others countered that Democrats could renominate former President Barack Obama to run for a third term if Trump followed through on his threat.
"If Trump wants to run for a thirdterm, President Obama should consider coming out of retirement and doing the same. Obama would win 50/50 states and completely humiliate the Trump family," replied liberal activist Harry Sisson.
The president said in March that he was seriously looking into the possibility of a third term, but many believed he was merely trolling his opponents on the left. In January, a Republican congressman proposed an amendment to allow Trump a third term, despite his only being in office for four days at that time.
The two-term tradition was set by George Washington, the country's first president, but was enshrined into law after Franklin Delano Roosevelt defied the custom and was elected to serve an unprecedented four terms, although his fourth term was cut short by his death.
Trump will continue to do better with Black men, Hispanic men, Gen Z voters while he's "alienating" former Democratic voters due to his trolling.
For the record, I would not support Trump for a third term if he were serious.
Seems like Vance is learning from Trump. He may have to repeat Trump’s strategy especially if Gavin Newsom is running for President in 2028.
“If he’s just trolling,..what’s the point?”
If you have to ask, you’re the one being trolled.
I’m not sure what Trump’s angle is in promoting this, but if it annoys the left, I’m all for it.
I think Trump should use the threat of running again, via the loophole some are suggesting allows him to become president for a third term, to bargain with Congress for a Congressional term limits amendment.
Make a deal with Congress. Pass an amendment that both clarifies the language of the 22nd Amendment, closing the presidential term limit loophole, and also imposes term limits on Congress.
Never give away something of value unless you get something for it in return.
Thank you for your post. I’ve been trying to reconcile being a Reagan Republican with MAGA, and you just made it clear to me that they can’t be reconciled. Just a completely different mindset and way of viewing politics.
Imho the troll goes over the heads of most people.
The relevant amendment prohibits being elected President more than twice.
President Trump believes he has already been elected three times!
In 2025 the rules of communication have been radically altered.
It is totally understandable that some folks do not understand them.
I generally detest people who are ruled by their emotions, so....
“There are no “rules”, and never really were. Individuals have always chosen to communicate in whatever way they believe best suits their purposes. The hard left always communicated in a certain way because that fit their goal of tearing down basic American values. MAGA members choose to communicate the way they do for their own reasons as well, most of which is just emotional catharsis”
Where did this quote come from?
Your quote sounds like something I would expect to read from the New York Times editorial board.
Lol.
The policy objectives of MAGA are what’s important. Trump’s style is important only to the extent that it helps him achieve his policy goals. And in that regard his style has been enormously successful. You don’t have to understand why it’s effective or to even like his style to recognize that it IS effective.
Judging Trump by his style rather than by his policies is a case of misguided priorities, IMO. And judging Trump’s style by how it makes you feel rather than by how effective it is as at advancing his MAGA agenda, is equally misguided.
But I’ll leave you with a hint as to why Trump’s personality has been a key factor in his success. Trump’s ability to build a governing mandate has had everything to do with reaching out to voters who don’t traditionally vote Republican. Part of his ability to expand the base and reach such people has to do with his policies, but part of it also has to do with his showman style. Trump understands that marketing one’s message is important, and he’s not above trying to reaching out to segments of the electorate that find his trolling and general showmanship appealing.
You may not like those who are attracted to Trump by his persona and swagger, but they vote, whether you like it or not. If you support the America first policy objectives of MAGA, then be grateful that Trump was willing to fight for these non-traditional voters rather than ceding them to the Democrats. If he hadn’t we’d be living with a President Kamala.
Good post.
Back at the very beginning of the first Trump campaign I was put off by his “style”—but after a while I understood why he was doing it and why it was the only way to change first the Republican Party and then the nation.
The left had completed their long march through the institutions and any “respectable” and “polite” and “reasonable” Republican was going to get crushed.
Some conservatives had a hard time learning that it was not their job to conserve leftist victories.
A few holdouts remain.
Thanks, cgbg, and well said.
If that’s more important to you than turning off swing voters, go for it.
- - - - - - -
Swing voters can laugh at jokes, too. You must be fun at parties.
Well, I’m not sure what that means, exactly.
But for the record, I loved Reagan. Until Trump, he was the only POTUS I was actually excited about voting for - and I assumed he’d be the last in my lifetime I could actually admire. But I admire Trump every bit as much.
The point being, I don’t share your inference that there are irreconcilable differences between the two.
We had lunch with my sister yesterday who is a registered Democrat and faithful Democrat voter and she asked me about the Trump 2028 topic.
Once I explained it to her she actually laughed and said “Yeah that is funny. I get it.”
The only folks who don’t get it are Liz Cheney/Bill Kristol types and hard core leftists.
Actually it says he cannot serve a third term, it doesn’t say he cannot campaign for a third term.
Strategically though, would Trump campaigning and calling things out like he’s known to do, actually benefit the Republican Party? Would he be forcing the hand of fence sitting candidates to carry on the MAGA legacy?
I don’t see this as much of a trolling democrats as I see it as trolling the would be republican candidates.
Who will they have to face and beat in 2028? Newsome, AOC, who else ?
I haven’t seen a TRUMP 2028 hat yet, but have seen MAGA 2028. And let’s hope 2028 will bring a MAGA POTUS, whomever that will be. MAGA isn’t necessarily Trump. (Could also mean Lara Trump. Or Don Jr. and Eric, even if their mother wasn’t a citizen when they were born.)
We have a fundamental disagreement with regard to the bolded. Perhaps because you are referring to him getting elected, and I am focusing on enacting the policy goals themselves. I would argue that people are confusing his style and tone with actual accomplishments. I see an absolutely dead in the water legislative agenda -- to the extent one even exists -- and governance by haphazard Executive Order, a high percentage of which predictably get shot down.
To me, the transgender issue in the military is the perfect example of how Trump's style derails his agenda. In his first term, he issued an order that essentially banned transgenders from the military. It was shot down by courts. But then, DoD leadership crafted a second policy that didn't ban transgenders specifically, but simply reinstated a broad, long-standing deployability requirement. The impact of that was the exact same -- transgenders were banned. But because of how it was done, it withstood legal scrutiny.
But what happens in his second term, with the exact same issue? He does the same thing he started off with doing in his first term -- stupid public statements by his people that again target transgenders specifically. And of course, it just got shot down in court.
Trump's "style" may well help him get elected, but it ends up derailing his ability to actually accomplish his agenda once in office.
And here's what really bugs me about MAGA -- I don't think they truly care about whether or not the agenda gets enacted, or "sticks" beyond his presidency. I really don't. Give them a choice between "this is how you accomplish those goals" and "this is how you antagonize Democrats", and they'll open door number two first every single time. The emotional catharsis of what they get from Trump's style is their actual priority.
It's the moronic "if you're taking fire, you must be over the target" rationale. We see that all the time here, right? Except by that logic, Biden must have had a freaking fantastic debate, and we know that because of how much Republicans criticized him after that debate. He took a lot of fire, so he must have been over the target!
Right?
I swear, most of MAGA - including Trump - would rather use their head to knock a hole in the wall to prove how tough they are, rather than simply opening the damn door and just walking through.
Just wait and watch. See how much of his agenda Trump actually accomplishes in any way that has a hope of sticking.
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