A not-so-hypothetical, completely serious, but also just-kidding-but-maybe-not-at-all discussion about a third Trump term

Photo: AP Images

E

very great movement reaches that inevitable moment when someone asks, “Wait… why stop now?” And at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC 2025) in D.C., that moment came in the form of a not-so-hypothetical, completely serious, but also just-kidding-but-maybe-not-at-all discussion about a third Trump term.

Now, the 22nd Amendment says two terms and zehu. But in the Trump era, constitutional amendments have the same energy as Terms and Conditions on a DeepSeek update.

The fact that this conversation is happening at all is, well, kind of wild. After all, wasn’t the whole reason for re-electing Trump in the first place to restore constitutional order and push back against executive overreach? But meh. Details.

It was perhaps inevitable that some activists would reach this place: After, all, if you had to fight off every Democrat, media outlet, federal agency and Ivy League think tank just to put your guy back in the White House, why on earth would you hand the keys back after four measly years?

The idea of a Trump third term wasn’t just a joke at the annual conservative conference — it was an actual conversation. Steve Bannon fired the opening shot, declaring, “We want Trump in ’28 [because] a man like Trump comes along only once or twice in the country’s history.”

In other words, he’s great, but not great enough to finish the job in just three and two-third years. Meanwhile, the “Third Term Project” launched as a legit campaign to amend the Constitution, because apparently “president for life” polled well in the focus groups. Attendees were all in, rocking “Trump 2028” stickers like it was already a done deal.

Of course, this is exactly what CPAC does. It floats ideas that sound insane on Friday and become GOP talking points by Monday. Need a refresher? Back in 2009, the conference was crawling with Tea Party activists ranting about government spending, and a year later, they were Congress. In 2013, when Steve Bannon and Breitbart pushed a nationalist, anti-globalist message, it seemed edgy. Until it became the foundation of Trump’s 2016 campaign. And let’s not forget 2021, when CPAC doubled down on election fraud claims long before they became the official stance of most Republican candidates.

So when CPAC speakers start tossing out phrases like “Maybe we should rethink term limits” with a wily wink, smarmy smirk, and a knowing knuckle-crack, it’s worth paying attention. Because this isn’t really about Trump’s future — it’s about how the movement sees power itself.

The old GOP — zeeskeits that they were — believed in playing by the rules, even when the other side didn’t. And in the process, Trump ended up notching: seven election audit denials, January 6 committees, five years of investigations, four criminal trials, three assassination attempts, two impeachments, and one epic mugshot. This time around, many of them seem to have decided that if Democrats get to rewrite election laws, rig institutions, and keep octogenarians in office long after the joke was over, then maybe Republicans should stop bringing a pocket Constitution to a knife fight.

Will Trump actually try for a third term? Not likely. But that’s not the point. CPAC 2025 was less about politics more about a message: The MAGA movement isn’t thinking in four-year election cycles anymore. They’re thinking in decades. They’re thinking legacy. And that means upgrading the presidency from a four-year lease to full ownership — title pending, paperwork optional.

Trump Forever Fever: Unburdened by What Has Been

If Trump does somehow run again, get ready for the merch drop of the century. Red hats reading “Make Elections Elective.” T-shirts boldly declaring “Trump 2028: Yep, Still Your President.” Yard signs boasting “Meaner Tweets, Fewer Pronouns.” And of course, the classic “Four More Years” slogan — slightly revised to “However Many More Years We Want.”

Because if Trump 2024 sent academia, media and Hollywood into a full-blown meltdown, just imagine the existential crisis that Trump Forever™ would unleash. The ultimate GOP troll move? Floating third-term speculation just to watch the New York Times lose its mind inside a 10,000-word op-ed.

But beneath the memes and the merch lies something more serious. Conservatism has traditionally been about preserving institutions, yet the modern right is increasingly defined by its willingness to dismantle them — especially when those institutions appear to serve progressive interests. The 22nd Amendment was meant to limit executive power, but what happens when conservatives believe that power has already been hijacked — by media bias, deep-state interference, and unelected bureaucrats? Is it still their duty to play by yesterday’s rules, or is it time to rewrite the rulebook?

Furthermore, while a third term is illegal — for now — what if voters wanted it? American democracy is built on a constitutional system, not raw majoritarianism. But if millions of Trump’s supporters saw the 22nd Amendment as outdated, what should take priority? The text of the Constitution, or the will of the people? That’s the real question lurking behind all this: Is the Constitution a tool for the people, or a guardrail against them?

And let’s not pretend this kind of thing hasn’t happened before. When a leader is both wildly popular and politically embattled, history shows that people push for continuity — Julius Caesar, Napoleon, FDR. Some argue the US is already drifting toward a Caesarist system, in which the presidency becomes a permanent, dominant force beyond traditional checks and balances.

But suppose Trump did seek a third term. Would it really be the end of democracy, or just the end of an era?

But here’s the thing: Trump doesn’t actually need a third term to have one. He just needs a successor who follows his script. Maybe it’s J.D. Vance, the shadow with the five o’clock shadow. Maybe it’s Trump Jr., turning MAGA into the family business. Or maybe it’s some other loyal foot soldier who knows the golden rule: Stick to the brand, keep the boss happy. Because at the end of the day, Trumpism isn’t going anywhere. And if it’s really about the ideas — America First, draining the swamp, taking on the media — then does it really matter whose gold-lettered name appears on the stationery?

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1051)