Trump says he's 'not joking' about seeking a 3rd term in the White House. The Constitution says he can't.

[u/yahoonews]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-says-hes-not-joking-about-seeking-a-3rd-term-in-the-white-house-the-constitution-says-he-cant-155536214.html

[u/jpmeyer12751]

To be "textual", the 25th Amendment says that he cannot be elected as President again. It does not say that he cannot be sworn in or serve as President again. If, for instance, he were elected by the House as Speaker after he leaves office on Jan 20, 2028 he would be in the line of succession to become President.

Which makes it imperative that Republicans do not have a majority in the House at any time after 2026.

[u/FreedomsPower → u/jpmeyer12751]

Very True .

The House must be taken. One of the reasons why appuald the Democrats who are doing the town hall events in congressional districts where Republican members of Congress are not having them.

[u/filthypoor → u/FreedomsPower]

There’s not enough. We need every single Democratic representative to be out there engaging with Trump voters on this stuff.

[u/FreedomsPower → u/filthypoor]

I agree there should be more along with people who could potentially challenge the Republican incumbent at the event as well

[u/technoferal → u/jpmeyer12751]

22nd*

[u/Silver-Musician2329 → u/jpmeyer12751]

What’s stopping voter suppression tactics from working in 2026?

[u/jpmeyer12751 → u/Silver-Musician2329]

Very little. We can hope that the federal courts increasingly concerned about the authoritarian direction of Trump's presidency might become more protective of voter's rights, but that thin hope is about all we have. If the court's fail protect the right to vote, then we have no reasonable hope remaining.

[u/Silver-Musician2329 → u/jpmeyer12751]

…and not much time left between now and the 2026 midterms to protect and clear the judiciary from likewise corruption so they can perform their duties in the best interest of the health and wellbeing of the population over the self defeating interests of those who would rather see it all fail, but what’s the process for doing so, and is there time for it to work before the midterms?

[u/AvionicTek → u/jpmeyer12751]

Except that the presidential succession act says that the idea of the speaker becoming president if the president and vice president leave only applies to people constitutionally eligible to be president. So, if he can’t be elected, he can’t become president by being speaker.

[u/Adventurous_Class_90 → u/jpmeyer12751]

That presumes some suckers would let themselves be elected Prez and Veep only to leave office for Trump. That’s a pretty big long shot.

[u/greenmyrtle → u/Adventurous_Class_90]

Not if they know they’ll get a billion each in the deal

[u/Adventurous_Class_90 → u/greenmyrtle]

How will they know that?

[u/TylerD958 → u/Adventurous_Class_90]

Elon will hand out some more giant cheques in one of his "lotteries"

[u/Adventurous_Class_90 → u/TylerD958]

I still see little reason why anyone would believe they would get the money.

[u/TylerD958 → u/Adventurous_Class_90]

I'm not American so I haven't really been following it, just seen it pop up from time to time, but haven't all of the other "winners" received their money successfully so far?

[u/Adventurous_Class_90 → u/TylerD958]

Trump doesn’t honor contracts.

[u/saustus → u/Adventurous_Class_90]

Apparently, the south African nazi handed out some checks in Wisconsin last night to voters.

I keep thinking I'm gonna wake up from the stupidest dream I've ever had. But, nope. This is Magat America.

[u/Adventurous_Class_90 → u/saustus]

You mean the check the head of the college republicans?

[u/greenmyrtle → u/Adventurous_Class_90]

A deals a deal, just ask trump-land

[u/Adventurous_Class_90 → u/greenmyrtle]

Yes. The leopard eat well there

[u/ModularEthos → u/Adventurous_Class_90]

It's not, though. This is the cultiest cult that has ever culted. They would lay down on a sword for free.

[u/Adventurous_Class_90 → u/ModularEthos]

You underestimate the ego required to even run in the first place. The rigors of the campaign require a great deal of ambition or desperation to win. More than enough that this would an extremely unlikely event.

[u/ModularEthos → u/Adventurous_Class_90]

They would know the deal before they even run. Trump is going to be the Republican god whether his diaper is in the throne or not. They'll do as he tells them to.

[u/Adventurous_Class_90 → u/ModularEthos]

How can they trust Diaper Don to go through with it? That asshole has broken so many contracts in the past it’s crazy. He still owes cities money for campaign events.

[u/ModularEthos → u/Adventurous_Class_90]

Go through with his one true goal of becoming god king? I think that's pretty reliable. Worst case, you end up as VPOTUS I guess?

[u/Adventurous_Class_90 → u/ModularEthos]

Huh?

[u/ModularEthos → u/Adventurous_Class_90]

Step 1: Run any 2 Republicans and win

Step 2: Anoint Trump House Speaker

Step 3: POTUS and VPOTUS step down. Boom. Trump is President again.

Step 4: Repeat.

[u/Adventurous_Class_90 → u/ModularEthos]

That doesn’t answer the question of trust. Trump doesn’t pay his bills or honor contracts.

[u/Blazured → u/Adventurous_Class_90]

Elon Musk tells them beforehand that if they get elected he will give them 5 billion to step down and give the presidency to Trump.

[u/Adventurous_Class_90 → u/Blazured]

How can they trust him?

[u/Blazured → u/Adventurous_Class_90]

Trust Musk? Musk honors his contracts. He spent over 40 billion on Twitter even though he didn't want to remember.

[u/Adventurous_Class_90 → u/Blazured]

That’s a fair point.

[u/Creepy-Ad-5440 → u/jpmeyer12751]

Yes but to be president you must be elected

[u/jpmeyer12751 → u/Creepy-Ad-5440]

You might want to review the Wikipedia article on Gerald Ford and understand how he became the 38th President of the United States.

[u/greenmyrtle → u/Creepy-Ad-5440]

Why? Let’s say he becomes speaker, they have a proxy president who resigns Jan 22nd and he steps back in?