Trump 2028?

It won’t happen. I think.

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Former President Donald Trump on April 8, 2023. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)

On Wednesday Benjy Sarlin had a bit of fun scaring his readers at Semafor. “Don’t assume this is Donald Trump’s last run,” he warned them. 

I, a pessimist by nature, read the piece with puzzlement. “How can he run in 2028?” I wondered. “He’ll be term-limited by then.”

But I understood Sarlin’s anxiety. In 2023 the Trump saga feels like a horror-movie franchise. After endless mayhem, someone finally slays the monster—and then there he is again somehow, alive and well in a sequel.

Nightmare on Trump Street is only in its third chapter. Given how elderly both of Trump’s parents were before they passed, we should probably start gaming out a release date for chapter four sometime in 2032.

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  1. Avatar photo
    Dan Baldwin

    Today is the day I realized that Trump might actually be the *sane* voice in MAGA, given JD Vance, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Greg Abbott.

    How far will we continue falling?

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  2. Kevin M

    A conviction for seditious conspiracy or inciting insurrection would likely disqualify him.

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    Stephanie

    Wouldn’t he be term limited in 2028 only if he won the general in 2024?

    Donald Trump could end up being the modern day Harold Stassen. (And I hope he does!)

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  4. Dougrhon

    I am 56 years old. I fully expect to be reading about Donald Trump for the rest of my life even if that life is another 40 years.

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    1. Kevin M

      There is actually no requirement that you have to be alive to be elected president.

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      1. J. Everett Schubert

        Don't tell his worshipers. They'll taxidermy him like Lenin and try to make him Dear Leader for the rest of time.

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      2. Dougrhon

        That's my pointm

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  5. Dougrhon

    I may have to stop reading the Dispatch. While accurate it is way too depressing.

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  6. Nemmerle924

    The GOP should create a sinecure for Trump. Maybe "Imperator of the GOP." A position where Trump's ego can be delicately fanned and fed carefully tailored morsels of news to keep it believing he has ultimate power. The Imperator could hand down "Official Imperial Endorsements" of specific GOP candidates - a VERY important function. And the rest of the apparatus could get back to something more normal than today.

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    Taco

    If losing consistently were reason enough to stop being crazy, the California GOP wouldn't be where it is.

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    1. Avatar photo
      2sequoia

      😂😂😂

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  8. Belisarius.Aves

    In some ways Nick falls into the trap of so many in the media. For a conservative who wants an agenda based on small government, robust defense, rule of law there is not really anything that Trump can deliver, because he will not get elected. But for the media industrial complex, on both sides, this guy is still gold. Charlotte Lawson has an interesting article on a nation pivotal in so many ways to the Middle East, and she has 14 comments. This one will be triple figures before lunch.

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    1. AJLiberty

      Yes, Trump remains gold, but he also remains the polling leader for the GOP nomination. And there is little to no direct repudiation of him by DeSantis, Haley, or Scott. There's been no Jim Jones epiphany by the choir that this guy is perfectly willing to drive the GOP into the grave.

      Still, it's fair to ask what's left to say about Trump to the people who nod approvingly when they hear about an agenda of "retribution". Good Lord. There's not a lot of us here struggling with deconstructing Trump. We know he's a wrecking ball and we want him to lose decisively, so we can get back to a functional party with a responsible leadership voice.

      How do we get there? Some people are not open to persuasion. They believe this is an existential situation and that Trump needs them more than ever. January 6th hand-wringing is just a test of their commitment. The media, NeverTrump, and the deep state are out to get their guy and now is not the time to waiver or give in. There might be persuadables that see the writing on the wall and don't want four more years of Democrat rule and judicial nominations. But do they come to The Dispatch? Will they trust a long-time Trump critic? One hopes and every persuadable that Nick converts is another vote for normalcy.

      The root problem is that Right Wing media is not acting in the country's best interest. It is thriving on selling the drama of Trump. We need better people in charge. Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, Suzanne Scott and the Murdoch's are letting us down. They don't want to go back to boring candidates like Mitt Romney or gentlemen like Tim Scott who won't market their anger. Existential crisis and anger gets people to tune in and watch/listen. Things won't get better until the profitability breaks. As a conservative, I'm pessimistic that people will suddenly act better. Nick's isn't a huge voice, but we can't muffle the voices that speaking to truth. There is no bigger political question than keeping Trump from power and having him lose the primary process. Go Nick.

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    Ray Salemi

    “He’ll be looking for revenge on the many Republican voters who failed him on Election Day”

    I’m not making the broader comparison, but this reminded me of Hilter’s deciding that the German people had failed him and deserved to starve in order to stop the Russians. One could also cite Stalin’s killing 20M of his own people or Xi unleashing COVID upon an ungrateful population.

    I think autocratics despise the people they lead.

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  10. Scraft

    I’ll do you one better: I think Trump will run again in 2028 even if he wins in 2024. He’ll pull some argument out of his ass about how the 22nd Amendment is only for consecutive terms, he deserves another term because 2020 was stolen from him, blah blah blah. And it’s not like the GOP will even try to stop him. There’s a greater than zero chance that a Supreme Court packed with conservatives will rubber stamp him too.

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    1. Libertyforallusa2

      Why would a Supreme Court packed with conservatives rubber stamp that?

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      Wj

      I'll do you one better still: If Trump retakes the Presidency again in 2024, from day one, he will have a singular, all-consuming objective guiding him and his administration. That objective will be to consolidate power to such an extent that he never has to submit to a free and fair election again and the presidency remains his, so long as he may live.

      He'll resort to any tactic or use any tool he can to achieve it, whether it's lawful or not. The only limiting principles on what he's willing to do will be whether or not he can get away with it, and how far his cronies and supporters are willing to go on his behalf (up to and including all manners of violence and repression).

      Like Putin, he will just keep pushing, until and unless others decide to truly stop him.

      Whether it would all flame out in a darkly comedic farce, or truly push us over the edge, or land somewhere in between, I honestly have no idea.

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    3. Kevin M

      OTOH, his claim that he was elected in 2020 should mean he's term-limited now.

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      O.W.L.

      No they won't. They hate him as much as everybody else does. They'll rule that the 22nd Amendment says what it says. The question is when they would step in--would it be after he was nominated in 2028, or would it have to wait until after he's elected? If he IS elected to a third term and it's ruled he can't take office, would his VP get the job? If so look for him to pick Don, Jr. as his VP.

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      1. GenZConservative

        That's a great hypothetical. Nobody has standing until he's won, do they?

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        1. Libertyforallusa2

          I would imagine lawsuits would start as soon as he attempts to get on a state ballot.

          So in that hypothetical, say he tries to get on the ballot in California, and the secretary of State says no. Trump would sue for ballot access.

          I imagine that lawsuit would get fast-tracked to the Supreme Court

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    5. BadgerBill

      Scraft, I wish I could say your post is nonsense, but it’s not. There are many examples of this kind of thing happening around the world. After the 1/6 “conspiracy” (by which I mean all of Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election-creation of “The Big Lie”, fake electors, Pence can unilaterally change outcome, etc) any delusions that the USA is immune to extra-constitutional behavior. Trump has already called for the suspension of the Constitution so somehow he can be “reinstated” as president.

      Your scenario is not inconceivable.

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    6. J. Everett Schubert

      Totally agree that it’s a stretch to assume he’d leave voluntarily in 2028. Although, I disagree that the SC would go along. Okay, so maybe Clarence Thomas. An 8-1 decision smacking that down.

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