Trump rules out a third term

Is Donald Trump forsaking four more years? In an interview today with NBC’s Kristen Welker, Trump indicated that while his MAGA faithful may be hawking hats in support of a 2028 run, he’s not keen on the idea. “I’ll be an eight-year president,” he said. “I’ll be a two-term president. I always thought that was very important.” His current term, he added, was more than adequate to accomplish something “really spectacular.” The interest that Trump’s declaration of non-intention is receiving offers a reminder that he stirs up as much news with what he doesn’t do as with what he does. 

The only president to smash the barrier was, of course, Franklin D. Roosevelt who was routinely accused of being a dictator by his Republican opponents almost from the moment he assumed office. (His cousin Theodore tried and failed to win a third term in 1912.) Roosevelt ran and won four times, though his final term was cut short by his death in April 1945, shortly before Nazi Germany capitulated to the wartime allies. Republicans, terrified of a repetition by a Democrat, passed the 22nd Amendment in 1946 and it was ratified in 1951. There slogan might as well have been, “No more Roosevelts.” 

No president since Roosevelt has been the topic of discussion about a third term. That is another singularity of Donald Trump. Another is his declaration to Welker that “I don’t know” when asked if it was his duty to uphold the Constitution itself. He outsourced that obligation to what he called his “brilliant” lawyers who would know whether due process was really imperative for the immigrants he hopes to evict. “I was elected to get them the hell out of here, and the courts are holding me from doing it,” he complained. 

When it came to running for another term, however, Trump was less equivocal about the Constitution. “I don’t know if that’s constitutional,” he said. Were Trump to run again, he wouldn’t simply antagonize Democrats. He would also strike gloom in the hearts of Republicans such as Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State and acting National Security Advisor Marco Rubio, both of whom are eyeing a run for the Oval Office. Probably no one was happier today than Rubio whom Trump singled out, along with Vance, as potential presidential timber. Vance, Trump said, is a “brilliant, fantastic guy.” Rubio received the encomium “great.” Both have traveled a long way to ingratiate themselves with Trump – Vance once referred to him as a budding Hitler, while Rubio mocked his endowments in the nether regions during the 2016 presidential campaigns. Perhaps one of them will receive Trump’s seal of approval once the next set of presidential primaries begins. 

For now, Trump remains in charge, announcing, among other things, that he’s not about to lower his staggering 145 percent tariff on China. He also divulged that economic news follows a bifurcated path: “I think the good parts are the Trump economy and the bad parts are the Biden economy because he’s done a terrible job.” As inflation rises and grocery store shelves empty out thanks to his wacky tariff policy, the real question may be whether anyone will even want Trump to run for a fresh term. If anything, his legacy may prove a poisoned chalice for his eager heirs.