How Trump Could Defy the Constitution — or Find a Loophole — and Seize a Third Term
“… “Anyone who says that obviously the 22nd Amendment will deter Trump from trying for a third term has been living on a different planet than the one I’ve been living on,” says Ian Bassin, who was an associate White House counsel for President Barack Obama and is now the executive director of the nonprofit advocacy group Protect Democracy.
If Trump decided he wanted to hold onto power past 2028, there are at least four paths he could try:
- He could generate a movement to repeal the 22nd Amendment directly.
- He could exploit a little-noticed loophole in the amendment that might allow him to run for vice president and then immediately ascend back to the presidency.
- He could run for president again on the bet that a pliant Supreme Court won’t stop him.
- Or he could simply refuse to leave — and put a formal end to America’s democratic experiment.
Each path would face serious political, legal and practical impediments. But the prospect of a third Trump term shouldn’t be
dismissed with a hand wave.
Trump, after all, is definitely
not dismissing the prospect. He’s been openly floating it for years. …”