The leader of the free world appears to have contracted the third-term virus.
It always seemed improbable, even for all its well-known vulnerabilities, that the American political system would succumb to the temptations of megalomania. The American structure is nonpareil, and the sturdiness of its institutions, having weathered many a difficult test, is such that one may safely wager against the very prospect. Besides, aren’t those perversions unique to those regions of the world with weak political institutions, fragile political cultures and even weaker civil societies?
Yet, there was President Trump last week, risking all that reputation by floating the idea of running for an unconstitutional third term of office, precisely the kind of shenanigan one would expect to issue from the Ivorian presidential palace. In an exclusive interview with NBC News on Sunday, Trump, speaking like someone who had given some thought to the idea, clarified that he was “not joking.” He further reassured the reporter that “a lot of people want me to do it,” adding, “but, I mean, I basically tell them we have a long way to go, you know, it’s very early in the administration.” As for the kooky legal theory which holds that Vice President JD Vance could run for the presidency only to transfer power to Trump, the president owned that it was a possibility, but if it doesn’t work, “there are others, too.”
Will President Trump actually trifle with the health and safety of the most sophisticated and most enduring political system the world has ever known by attempting to run for a third term of office in direct violation of the Twenty-Second Amendment to the United States Constitution?
From a certain perspective, merely posing the question is enough admission that we live in extraordinary times. There are certain things that a sitting American president is not allowed to entertain; that what is being contemplated here is patently illegal makes it all the more unsettling.
Some commentators have theorized that President Trump was merely trying to deflect attention from SignalGate. Others–Republican strategist Dave Carney for one–have suggested that he, i.e. Trump, merely intended to needle “the people on the left.” That is not implausible, though the fact that several of the president’s political allies have at various times flown the same kite is enough to suggest that President Trump’s comments were not completely random.
For instance, former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon has claimed that Trump will “run and win again in 2028” and that “a team is developing ways to elect Trump a third time.” Back in January, just five days into Trump’s nonconsecutive second term, Republican House member Andy Ogles of Tennessee introduced a resolution “to amend the U.S. Constitution to allow President Donald Trump–and any other future president–to be elected to serve a third term.” For Congressman Ogles, Trump “has proven himself to be the only figure in modern history capable of reversing our nation’s decay and restoring America to greatness, and he must be given the time necessary to accomplish that goal.”
Not only has President Trump’s conduct in office failed to allay critics’ fears; indeed, his comments and actions have reinforced the suspicion that he harbors secret monarchical fantasies. Mercurial in every other respect, he has exhibited an alarming consistency when it comes to the use of federal power to coerce and retaliate against political enemies. No less disconcerting is his penchant for insulting judges and attacking the courts for rulings he disagrees with. His administration’s refusal thus far to comply with a court order to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia from a Salvadoran mega-prison where he was deported “without any legal basis” does not bode well.
To be clear, none of this makes Trump the second coming of Napoleon or– take your pick–Mussolini, though it is worth bearing in mind that neither Napoleon nor Mussolini started out as fully-fledged versions of the political monsters of historical record. What they did, and something that is consistent with all aspiring despots, was systematically bend to their advantage all the susceptibilities and weaknesses in the system. Insofar as the durability of the American system offers some assurance that President Trump, supposing he is vain enough to want to become the first American emperor (with all the mischiefs and cruelties proceeding from it), will have a difficult time of it, his seeming readiness to go where none of this predecessors have, and the willingness to jeopardize American exceptionalism in the process, indicates that this is a risk he may be willing to take.
If that is the case, the American public can learn a lesson or two from their African counterparts–let that sink in–about how to challenge incipient authoritarianism.
One lesson is that what starts in the realm of mere ideas, no matter how fanciful it may sound at first, doesn’t always end there. What is ultimately devastating is not so much the egregious violations as the drip-drip of daily departures from taken-for-granted decencies and civilities. While legality is paramount, what deadens the soul is not the actual breaking of the law, but the series of calculated assaults aimed at weakening public confidence in it.
Lesson number two–an admonition, really–is that there is always a sizeable portion of the political elite happy to either play along or actively enable the agenda. Until push comes to shove, one never really knows how many Bannons or Ogles are out there. Ambition and cowardice always play a role, but so does the poignant human tendency to conflate the rise of despotism with the dawn of liberty.
Perhaps the greatest lesson here, one that hopefully makes Americans more appreciative of the difficulties faced by immigrants fleeing societies under the thumb of sundry joyless autocrats (looking at you, all African despots) is that a free society (and make no mistake, America is indeed a free society) takes its freedoms for granted at its own peril, and that democratic institutions are secure only to the extent that both leaders and led are united in honoring the spirit that undergirds and frames them.
Ultimately, whether President Trump goes forward in his apparent resolve to defy the American Constitution is immaterial. What really matters is whether Americans think there is something about the country worth defending. Anyone who questions whether the American Idea is worth defending should talk to an immigrant.
Nathan Schoonover contributed to the research for this article.
