Is a Third Term in the Cards for Trump?

“No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice,” mandates the 22nd Amendment, even as loopholes fray at its seams with the increasing tease from none other than Donald Trump. With four years being a short time in the political realm of governance, the two-time president is wasting no time putting in motion what is needed to realize a third term. For starters, he is going for the declassification of the JFK files.

Why declassify the JFK files?

In 1963, while being driven through an excited crowd with waving hands, John F. Kennedy sustained bullets to his neck and head and was pronounced dead 30 minutes later. Thousands of documents related to the assassination have remained under lock in the name of “national security” despite a 1992 transparency law.

In 2024, while speaking at an open-air rally, Trump sustained a grazing bullet to his ear, one that would have rendered him dead had he not turned his head at the split second it came flying. Despite the euphemistic resignation of Kimberly Cheatle, then-Director of U.S. Secret Service, questions linger over the tardy response of her agents to a rifled man on the roof.

The two incidents have provided Trump with the advantageous opening of sketching a parallel. By declassifying the JFK files, Trump might not only validate the conspiracy theories floating for decades over Kennedy’s death but also convince the American public that he too has been a victim of a conspiracy to have him killed.

A conspiracy engineered by a system that has lied to the American public for too long. A system that must be dismantled. A system so deeply entrenched that it would require him more than four years to break it down and put in place something new, different, and better. And on and on his reinforcing narratives would compound exponentially.

To that end, Trump has pulled no punches in calling out the rogue USAID, lending credibility to what Russia exposed back in 2012 when it expelled the color revolution apparatus from its territory. However, given that USAID has faithfully served the U.S. with successful regime change operations, expect that specific function to be retained and perhaps augmented in one form or another even if Trump elects to take the organization down or adorn it in something new. After all, a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

Trump also knows that he must expand his play of the religious card. In 2024, he easily swept away 81% of the votes from white evangelicals, but his significant appeals to Jewish and Muslim voters did little to draw them from the Democratic pillars. Unlike his first term, when Trump swung hard at Muslims with a travel ban on six Muslim-majority countries, notice how his Islamophobia is far more tempered in the second term.

As for the powerful bloc of American Jews, a whopping 79% of them voted against him in 2024, according to the largest exit poll. Nonetheless, Trump must have lured more of them since, what with securing the release of Israeli hostages and a Hamas-Israel ceasefire within his first week back in the White House. Even though the larger credit belongs to Qatar and Egypt, having the loudest voice in the information sphere always ensures U.S. is awarded with the PR boost.

Trump does not rest there. The ethnic cleansing of Palestinians has begun as America hits replay to redraw borders despite earlier misadventures in the region that spelled deaths and tragedies for millions. As one of the most powerful lobbies on American foreign affairs, the blueprint of the pro-Israel bloc can be found all over Trump’s new cabinet.

However, Trump’s pledge to bring transparency to the American people will stop short where it does not serve him—it is unlikely he would also declassify files on the 1967 Israeli attack of U.S.S. Liberty. Never mind that Americans have a right to know what happened there too, even if it might “embarrass a U.S. ally,” the alleged reason behind LBJ’s abandonment of the American crew.

What about the U.S. Constitution that mandates, “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice”? It is arguable that the article makes no reference to a person remaining in office beyond his term by stretching out a presidential extension.

In addition, if Trump could secure the support of Republicans and that of enough Democrats and the American public, he might be able to have the 22nd Amendment repealed. His blatant instruction to House Republicans barely a week after his return to office read: I suspect I won’t be running again unless you say, “He’s so good we’ve got to figure something else out.” That was not the first time he hurled forth his likelihood of going beyond two terms; neither would it be his last.

Besides, the desire for Trump to cling onto the presidential reins goes far beyond his appetite for power; it’s an act of insurance. The relentless onslaught of lawsuits against him after the conclusion of his first term has convinced him that the only way to protect himself going forward is to never let go of his reign at the White House.

How could Trump land a third term?

The feasibility of Trump going onwards to a third term is not merely floating on hot air. Political commentators and legal experts are already shoring up the plausibility in various ways.

The first would be to alter the Constitution (which has occurred 27 times since its 1787 inception), with the support of a supermajority. This is more plausible than we think, as Trump made a clean sweep of all the swing states, despite raising far less in campaign donations than Kamala Harris did in her last-minute cackling hustle for the presidency. In fact, an amendment resolution has already been proposed amid contentious flattery for Trump among GOP lawmakers as they vie for the king’s favor.

If Trump and his team keep up their current pace of denigrating the old system by validating conspiracy theories girdling a “deep state” and exposing obscene amounts of tax dollars squandered the world over on criminal and outright wasteful programs, more Americans would root for Trump while envious foreigners could only yearn for a pressure launder from a Musk-like figure or a Wang-like visit.

Trump in his second term is already looking better than he did in his first term, where his team was mired in chaos, incompetence, and nepotism-induced dysfunction. Not to say components of these ills are no longer present, but the tumultuous first term, coupled with the very low bar set by a very slumbrous Joe Biden, has magnified the optics of a strong start.

With rapidity, Trump has exhibited common sense by banning transgender females from women's sports and recognizing only two genders, and indicated he is serious about cleaning up the mammoth government waste by exposing ludicrous undertakings wined and dined upon taxpayer money. His withdrawals from UN organizations are also welcomed by those cognizant of the intergovernmental organization's erosion of credibility eons ago.

Of course, only time will tell of the virtuosity of his new team, but Trump is already demonstrating he would outdo Biden in seizing resources America desperately needs. Oh no, not in Ukraine, where Russia has inflicted a strategic defeat on NATO—a melody the richest US vassal quickly swapped for and belted out to ensure synchrony with her American master—but in Greenland and Canada, where Trump has ratcheted pressure to induce the reaction he seeks. And that is just the tip of the iceberg in the Arctic race—full pun intended.

The second method would be for Trump to seek the vice-presidency and have the newly elected president make way for him afterwards. Given Trump’s pervasive appeal, finding a subservient spaniel for this role would be the easiest part.

The third method would be to bend the Supreme Court to his will. Having already appointed three of his picks as Supreme Court justices, Trump needs just two more in his second term to harness a majority. With Justice Clarence Thomas at age 80, Justice Samuel Alito at age 78, and Justice Sonia Sotomayor at age 70, the next four years could very well see the retirement of one or two among the trio.

The fourth method is as rebellious as Trump comes—an outright defiance of the Constitution. With all the January 6 rioters walking free and more emboldened than ever, Trump might just elect to stay put when his term ends. Besides, his contempt for domestic laws won’t look any more different from America’s recurrent violations of international laws—unilaterally drawn up, no less—whenever it suits the purpose of the American Empire.

Finally, the fifth method—and one showcased before our very eyes by the illegitimate and dramaturgical Volodymyr Zelensky—is to declare martial law or brew up some sort of a national crisis. After all, the U.S. is well-experienced in inciting wars and sowing conflicts. If Trump can’t get enough on his side to amend the Constitution, he will wrangle up enough adherents to orchestrate a national exigency.

Why the emperor’s clothes won’t matter

Trump’s cabinet the next four years will be filled with loyalists who sing to his tune and bow at his knees as he consolidates his power by cultivating a cult of personality. It would be remiss to regard his jokes about a third term as slapstick humor and sneer at the prospect, as that path is being excavated with the laying of stones to come.

With new clothes or none at all, the emperor is readying for his saunter there. The only joke that remains is the one on America’s tributary state leaders, whose lavish feudal duties at the expense of their own populations have made nebulous a Napoleon walking on hind legs—with a cracking whip to boot.

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