President Trump: Trolling or not, this third-term talk is becoming a distraction



Dear Mr. President:

I want to draw a parallel between two worlds that don’t seem connected but are. I’m not sure if you follow long-distance running. Perhaps you should.

Is it hubris, or fear, or something else entirely that keeps us clinging with white knuckles to our positions of power — refusing to pass the torch until God breaks our fingers?

Last month, on Patriots' Day, Des Linden crossed the finish line of her 12th Boston Marathon, triumphantly concluding a professional career that has cemented her legend status on Boylston Street.

It was there in 2018 that she made history, becoming the first American woman in 33 years to win, doing so under punishing conditions that overwhelmed many of the sport’s top contenders.

That year, she famously slowed down mid-race to help fellow runner Shalane Flanagan rejoin the pack, only to kick ahead of Mamitu Daska and Gladys Chesir on the Newton Hills to claim victory. Linden capitalized on persistence, grit, and her competitors’ fatigue.

'That was a really good day'

Linden's career spans decades at the highest level of competition, including two Olympic appearances (London 2012 and Rio 2016), a personal best of 2:22:38, and countless top American finishes at many of her 24 major marathons.

Just before lining up at the start of the 2025 event, she shocked fans by announcing her retirement from marathoning at age 41.

Though her 2025 time of 2:26:19 marked her fastest event performance since 2017, she knew it was time to hang up her Brooks Hyperions.

“I was happy with the time I ran, I was happy with how I ran ... and it was also just kind of perfect,” she said on "Nobody Asked Us," her podcast with fellow distance runner Kara Goucher. “It’s just not competitive. That was a really good day, and it’s just not competitive.”

“There’s a level of dignity to it,” she continued. “I don’t want to just limp through these races or be there just to be there. I want to do it well, and if I can’t do it well, I need to move on.”

Aging ungracefully

Dignity is a waning virtue in American politics. Our ruling class is aging, ungracefully, in public.

Dianne Feinstein, a once formidable senator, was wheeled daily into the Capitol in her final months, visibly confused, voting only when prompted by staff, and at one point attempting to give a speech when directed simply to say “aye.”

Mitch McConnell, twice in one year, froze silently mid-sentence at press conferences — eyes locked, hands clenched — and was escorted away like a man forgetting where, or who, he was.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a liberal icon, chose not to step down when President Obama could have appointed her successor — clinging to her seat until her death in 2020, which opened the door for you, Mr. President, to replace her with conservative Amy Coney Barrett, reshaping the Supreme Court for a generation.

And, of course, Biden’s presidency was marked as much by gaffes and confusion as by ill-fated policy. He tripped repeatedly up the steps of Air Force One, wandered away from press events unsure of where to exit, and at times struggled to finish coherent sentences during major addresses.

In one widely circulated moment, he mistook the president of Egypt for the president of Mexico. At international summits, he appeared disengaged, sometimes gazing blankly while other leaders spoke and sometimes falling asleep. His handlers often cut his mic or shuffled him away mid-question. What’s more, he was selfishly propped up by his party and his family to run for a second term.

White-knuckle leadership

Is it hubris, or fear, or something else entirely that keeps us clinging with white knuckles to our positions of power — refusing to pass the torch until God breaks our fingers, through infirmity, humiliation, or death, to take it from us? I don’t know.

What’s certain is that we have a choice — one with the power to shape our legacies and reveal the true motivations of our hearts.

Our first president understood this better than most, as articulated in his farewell letter to the nation. George Washington’s resignation after two terms — at the height of his ability and at the age of 64 — was a deliberate decision, modeling restraint, humility, and faith in the next generation.

“In a country whose institutions are essentially free, the voluntary relinquishment of power is as necessary as the wise exercise of it,” he said in his 1796 address.

And then, reflecting on his service: “Though in reviewing the incidents of my administration I am unconscious of intentional error, I am nevertheless too sensible of my defects not to think it probable that I may have committed many errors."

"I shall carry with me the hope that my country will never cease to view them with indulgence; and that,” he continued, “the faults of incompetent abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as myself must soon be to the mansions of rest."

That joke isn't funny any more

At first, I smiled and rolled my eyes at your mention of a third term. In April 2018, during a White House event, you quipped, “Should we go back to 16 years? Should we do that? Congressman, can we do that?”

The crowd laughed; it was a joke, we thought. You’re a stand-up comedian, I explained to fretting leftist friends, whose apoplectic reactions no doubt egged us all on — a brawler with a flair for provocation, not a man mounting a serious challenge to constitutional norms.

Then came the merchandise — “Trump 2028” hats — and the repeated musings: “After that, we’ll go for a third term,” you said at a rally in Nevada. By 2025, the line between jest and intent had blurred. When pressed on the matter in a March 30 interview with Kristen Welker, you replied, “No, no, I’m not joking.”

Good Trump, bad Trump

Herein lies the bind of the Trump supporter: trapped in an exhausting game of "good Trump, bad Trump" — squaring your achievements and impulses, downplaying your unconstitutional suggestions, all while hoping your next move isn’t one we truly can’t defend.

And then, during an exclusive "Meet the Press" interview last week, you offered your clearest indication yet that you’d leave office after two terms, without attempting to extend your stay. “I’ll be an eight-year president; I’ll be a two-term president. I always thought that was very important,” you told moderator Kristen Welker.

Some conservatives in my circle breathed a sigh of relief. Others still wait with bated breath, not sure what to believe. Stances have shifted before. For many on the right, your unpredictability is part of your strength: a negotiating tactic, a strategic ambiguity. However, when it comes to the peaceful transition of power — a foundational tenet of American conservatism — unpredictable rhetoric doesn’t inspire confidence.

A broken clock

That’s why, though I’m loath to admit it, a May 6 New York Times editorial raises a valid concern. "Trump’s Third-Term Jokes Deserve a Serious Response" argues that this kind of rhetoric doesn’t just amuse or provoke — it reinforces your critics’ worst fears. “He has a history, after all, of using seemingly outlandish speculation to push ideas he genuinely favors — such as overturning an election result — into mainstream discourse,” the editorial board writes. They continue:

He tests boundaries to see which limits are actually enforced. Even when he backs away from a provocation, he often succeeds in raising doubts about those limits. His behavior is consistent with a president who indeed wants to serve a third term, if not more, and who keeps raising the idea in the hope of getting Americans comfortable with it.

Those who watched January 6 unfold or listened to your musings about “stolen elections,” even in jest, fear that uncertainty and volatility may once again destabilize faith in our political process. In a climate rife with cynicism, some conservatives aren’t just asking what you’ll do — they’re wondering whether your word, this time, will be final.

Going out on top

In an Instagram post on race day, Des Linden took her final bow. “People say you should go out on top, and that’s what I’m doing — because getting to race my final professional marathon in Boston is indeed going out on top. I’m ready to leave it all out on the course one last time,” she wrote. “See you on Boylston.”

Mr. President, please keep your promise — for the sake of the Republican Party that you’ve reshaped for the better, for the young conservatives you’ve energized, for the party’s dignity and your own. Run the three-year race set before you, and then go out on top.

Trump says he's serious about another term in office: 'Sort of a fourth term'



President Donald Trump said in a Sunday morning phone interview that he is serious about the possibility of serving a third term in office. When pressed later aboard Air Force One about his comments, the 78-year-old Republican suggested that supporters have raised the possibility of him ultimately serving a total of 12 years, citing their pleasure with the wins he has notched since retaking office.

"A lot of people want me to do it," Trump told NBC News' Kristen Welker. "But, I mean, I basically tell them we have a long way to go, you know, it's very early in the administration."

"I'm focused on the current," added Trump.

Article II, Section 1, of the Constitution set presidential terms at four years but did not originally set term limits. While presidents were long able to serve over two terms, George Washington set a precedent that all but one president, Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt, followed.

In response to Roosevelt holding onto power from 1933 until 1945, the 22nd Amendment was ratified in 1951, limiting presidents to serving two terms.

The Congressional Research Service indicated that over the past seven decades, there have been scores of attempts to repeal the two-term limit as well as chatter among partisans about their favored president serving some overtime.

Just as there was some interest in the possibility of a third term for Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1960, there was a push in 1973 by Richard Nixon supporters — pleased with the Republican's successful first term — to eliminate the constitutional obstacle to another four years. Apparently, there was also serious interest among supporters of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama to ax the 22nd Amendment in the interest of keeping their favorites politically viable for more time in the Oval Office.

There has also been interest in clearing the way for a third Trump term.

Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles (R) introduced a House joint resolution in January that would enable a president to serve three terms so long as he did not already serve two consecutive terms. Accordingly, Trump could serve a third term but Obama and Clinton would be unable.

'We have a long time to go.'

"[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," Ogles said in a statement. "To that end, I am proposing an amendment to the Constitution to revise the limitations imposed by the 22nd Amendment on presidential terms."

It is highly unlikely such a constitutional amendment would receive the required two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress as well as the required ratification of three-fourths of the state legislatures or state conventions.

"There are methods which you could do it," Trump told Welker when asked about whether he had seen plans detailing how he might pursue another term.

NBC News reportedly floated a possible scenario where Vice President JD Vance successfully won a presidential election then substituted Trump in. After all, the Constitution specifically prohibits reelection to a third term but does not explicitly prohibit a third term.

Legal scholars indicated in a Clinton-era paper published by the Minnesota Law Review that "a President nearing the end of his or her second term and determined to stay in office might run as Vice President with the idea that the President-elect would step aside, allowing the already twice-elected President (and Vice President-elect) to serve a third term without running afoul of the Twenty-Second Amendment's bar on reelection."

While "there would be inevitable conflict over its legality and wisdom," the paper noted that "the possibility of an already twice-elected President reassuming that Office also presents opportunities of potential benefit to the polity."

Trump, who would be nearing the age of 87 by the end of a third term, told NBC News the vice-presidential backdoor into a third term is one possibility, adding that "there are others too," without elaboration.

'I'm not joking.'

When asked about whether he would actually want another term, Trump told Welker, "I like working."

"I'm not joking," added Trump. "But I'm not — it is far too early to think about it."

When asked later in the day about his interest in a third term, Trump told reporters, "I'm not looking at that, but I'll tell you, I have had more people ask me to have a third term, which is, in a way, a fourth term because the other election, the 2020 election, was totally rigged. So it's actually sort of a fourth term in a certain way. I just don't want the credit for the second because Biden was so bad."

After claiming "some very important people" have complimented his second administration's accomplishments, Trump noted he doesn't want to talk about the possibility because "no matter how you look at it, we have a long time to go."

It is unclear if Trump is just trying to rile up his critics. While he has previously expressed interest in a third term, he told Time magazine last year he was not interested in repealing the 22nd Amendment and told House Republicans in November, "I suspect I won't be running again unless you say, 'He's so good we've got to figure something else out.'"

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Sen. Cruz and GOP colleagues reintroduce constitutional amendment to impose term limits



Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and some of his Republican colleagues recently reintroduced legislation that would amend the U.S. Constitution to limit lawmakers from serving more than two six-year terms in the U.S. Senate or three two-year terms in the House of Representatives.

While the Texas Tribune and other publications have eagerly pointed out that Cruz has exceeded his own proposed limit, the Republican senator has beat the drum for better turnover in Washington for years, first proposing a constitutional amendment to impose term limits in 2017.

After proposing the amendment again with former Rep. Francis Rooney (R-Fla.) in 2019 and with the backing of Republican Sens. Marco Rubio (Fla.) and Mike Lee (Utah) and former Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.), Cruz stated, "Term limits on members of Congress offer a solution to the brokenness we see in Washington, D.C. It is long past time for Congress to hold itself accountable."

Later that year, Cruz said when chairing a Senate Judiciary's subcommittee on the Constitution hearing on term limits,

[In] the 2016 election, the American people made a resounding call to "drain the swamp" that is modern Washington. And sadly this is a bipartisan problem. The American people have lost confidence in Washington, and especially in Congress. It isn't hard to see why. Enmeshed in backroom deals and broken promises, our capital has too often become a political playground for the powerful and the well-connected, for members of the permanent political class looking to accumulate more and more power at the expense of American taxpayers.

"Every year, Congress spends billions of dollars on giveaways for the well-connected. Washington insiders get taxpayer money; members of Congress get re-elected and the system works for everyone except the American people," continued Cruz, who reintroduced his amendment in 2021 and 2023. "This kind of self-interest builds on itself as members spend more time in office. In an age in which partisan divide seem intractable, it is remarkable that public support for congressional term limits remains strong across party lines."

The Center Square reported that Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) introduced the companion resolution of the term limit legislation in the House, stating, "Those of us in Congress ought to serve for a reasonable period of time and then return home to live under the laws we enacted."

There is overwhelming bipartisan support for term limits.

A Pew Research Center survey conducted in July 2023 found that 90% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents and 86% of Democrats and Democratic leaners support limiting the number of terms that members of Congress can serve.

The survey also found that 79% of all respondents signaled support for a maximum age limit for elected officials in the nation's capital.

'Power is an elixir that is hard to put down.'

A January 2023 Congressional Research Service report indicated that whereas during most of the 19th century, the average tenure of members of Congress remained steady, there was a dramatic increase in how long lawmakers spent in both the Senate and House of Representatives.

Whereas the prior House service of incoming Representatives was, on average, 2.5 years in the 19th century, the CRS indicated that has shot up to an average of 9.4 years in the 21st century. Meanwhile, incoming senators averaged 4.8 years of prior chamber service in the 19th century, whereas in the 21st century, that figure has risen to 11.2 years.

While term limits could potentially serve to prevent the solidification of a permanent ruling class in Washington, D.C., they could also spare the country from transforming further into a gerontocracy and spare the American people from rule by potentially medically compromised lawmakers.

Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley (Iowa), the longest-serving senator in the previous Congress and the oldest lawmaker in the Senate chamber who is set to finish his current term at the age of 95, was briefly hospitalized in 2024.

Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell (Ky.), another geriatric lawmaker and the longest-serving Senate party leader in American history, has similarly had health issues in recent months and years, freezing up when fielding questions, repeatedly tripping, and receiving treatment for a concussion.

The late Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein first took office in a 1992 special election and was re-elected five times. Despite clear signs of mental deterioration — signaling at times she didn't know where she was going or where she had been — her aides and allies kept wheeling her into the Senate and allegedly telling her how to cast votes.

A Pentagon-funded study highlighted in 2023 how elderly government officials' mental degradation could pose significant risks to national and global security.

The RAND Corporation's National Security Research Division indicated that as a consequence of people living longer and working later in life, "The workforce might experience a higher prevalence of dementia than in past generations."

"Taken together, we believe that an increasing number of cleared personnel — that is, personnel who hold or have held security clearances — have or will have dementia," concluded the RAND researchers.

Return managing editor Peter Gietl previously noted in a piece on America's "octogenarian oligarchy" that "our present-day leadership seem to have no interest in enjoying their golden years with their families, spending the hundreds of millions they've accumulated. Power is an elixir that is hard to put down."

Cruz's proposed constitutional amendment will require a two-thirds majority vote both in the U.S. House and Senate.

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GOP Rep Kay Granger Hasn’t Voted In Six Months, Turns Up In Nursing Home

'The lack of a Republican vote representing CD-12 disenfranchises 2 million people'

Red State Approves Ballot Measure That Blocks Candidates Who Will Turn 81 In Office From Running

In 1995, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states ‘cannot impose additional restrictions, such as term limits’

Senate Republicans Back Big Change To Prevent Repeat Of McConnell Era

Senate Republicans Back Big Change To Prevent Repeat Of McConnell Era

Why Term Limits Are Actually A Horrible Idea

The intent of term limits was to prevent career politicians. The reality has been an erosion of legislative power.

UNBELIEVABLE: THIS politician has been absent 33.4% of the time, but there’s someone with an even WORSE record



Pat Gray and Jeff Fisher aren’t impressed with this member of the Senate for several reasons, one of them being his abysmal attendance record.

A child in school would be charged with truancy for a record like this, but this person seems to get a free pass when it comes to absenteeism.

Who are we referring to?

None other than John Fetterman.

“John Fetterman is the second-most absent member of the U.S. Senate,” says Pat. “He has been absent 33% of the time, 33.4% to be precise.”

Pat admits that some of this absenteeism is a result of being away for medical purposes, but the reality is, Fetterman “doesn’t show up for votes,” which is the entire point of his role.

There’s only one person with a worse record.

“Feinstein has missed 46.3% of votes this session,” says Pat.

“But don’t let that bother you,” he jokes. “Do they really need to be there?”

“No,” answers Jeffy. “Look, Biden's been gone for 40% of the time … so why do they gotta be there?”

While the absenteeism is certainly frustrating, Pat sees the silver lining.

“They're all almost equally useless at this point, so go ahead and just stay home permanently; that would be nice,” he laughs.


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Liberal Radio Host Praises GOP Candidate For Seeking Term Limits

'She didn’t say one damn thing wrong'
Term Limits NOW: Mitch McConnell, It's Time to RESIGN
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Term Limits NOW: Mitch McConnell, It's Time to RESIGN