(Illustration by my friend, the Pulitzer-Prize-winning cartoonist Mark Fiore.)
Once again, Donald Trump is speaking in code to his insurrection-minded followers. This time, it is to prepare them for the possibility of another January 6th-type riot to keep him in power beyond 2028, when his term ends.
Trump knows very well that the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution prevents him from having a third term. He also knows the scenario floated by some on the right under which J.D. Vance would run for President and Trump for V-P and then Vance would resign after getting elected — all of that is prevented by the 12th Amendment.
Furthermore, Trump knows that to overturn one of those amendments would require a vote by two-thirds of the states and that that simply is not going to happen. So why all the noise about a third term?
It’s a signal to the same crowd who heard his “stand back and stand by” instruction during the 2020 campaign.
I believe the most likely scenario for Trump to retain power is a national emergency of some sort — probably a terrorist attack, perhaps engineered by Trump himself — allowing him to declare a permanent state of martial law and suspend elections.
But in case that set of circumstances fails to materialize, Trump wants his militias to be ready to act again to keep him in power.
Is this merely a paranoid fantasy? I hope so, but the coded messages Trump is sending suggest otherwise.
(Please consider subscribing to Mark Fiore’s Substack page.)
HEADLINES:
If Trump Gets a 3rd Term, Democracy Will Have Already Ended (New York)
Can Trump serve a third term as US president? (BBC)
Elon Musk handed out million-dollar checks to two voters in Wisconsin and promised smaller payments to others who help elect a conservative candidate to the state's top court in a closely watched election. (Reuters)
Why Elon Musk is trying to buy a Wisconsin Supreme Court seat (New Yorker)
Trump increasingly asks the Supreme Court to overrule judges blocking key parts of his agenda (AP)
The Senate’s Age of Irrelevance (New Yorker)
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen banned from 2027 presidential race, throwing French politics into disarray (CNN)
'Pissed off' at Putin, Trump threatens tariffs on Russian oil if Moscow blocks Ukraine deal (Reuters)
Greenland’s new PM rejects Trump’s latest threat: ‘We do not belong to anyone else’ (Guardian)
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the US would receive a strong blow if it acts on Trump's threat to bomb unless Tehran reaches a new nuclear deal with Washington. (Reuters)
Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been displaced in the West Bank. An Israeli military operation has demolished hundreds of Palestinian homes. (WP)
Trump’s U.S.A.I.D. Cuts Hobble Earthquake Response in Myanmar (NYT)
Biotech Investors Rush for the Exits After FDA Official Resigns: Heard on the Street (WSJ)
Chinese suppliers and their American clients realize this trade war will hit hard (Reuters)
Tariff countdown time (Financial Times)
Without offering details, Navarro claims that Trump’s new tariffs would raise more than $6 trillion (WP)
As ‘Buy Canadian’ grows, more US companies say retailers shunning their products (Reuters)
Americans are spending less as they brace for new tariffs (WP)
The Trump administration’s roundup of student protesters is genuinely shocking (Guardian)
Columbia University student ran from Homeland Security, but still doesn’t know why they came for her (CNN)
The Secret History of the War in Ukraine (NYT)
Gen Z’s Career Apocalypse (Business Insider)
The World Still Needs Ringo Starr (Atlantic)
What is a torpedo bat? Inside MLB's next big thing (ESPN)
AI eats social media as xAI swallows X (Axios)
Pete Hegseth Calls For Steep Cuts To Number Of Steps In AA Recovery (The Onion)
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