Believe Trump when he says he won’t give up power

DONALD TRUMP revisited one of his favorite mantras on Friday night: He would like to be president for life.

“Christians, get out and vote, just this time. You won’t have to do it anymore,” he at a Florida event. “You got to get out and vote. In four years, you don’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good, you’re not going to have to vote.”

The Trump campaign insisted the remarks had nothing to do with thrones and scepters. Steven Cheung, a spokesman, “was talking about uniting this country and bringing prosperity to every American, as opposed to the divisive political environment that has sowed so much division and even resulted in an assassination attempt.”

That’s quite an interpretive stretch, even for a Republican Party claiming at its recent Milwaukee convention that it planned to focus on unity. Senator Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, had a different take. He a Sunday talk show that Trump was “obviously making a joke.” Republican Governor Chris Sununu of New Hampshire, a Trump critic turned apologist, the remarks were merely hyperbole and “a classic Trumpism.” Trump just meant to say that he will fix the country, not rig elections, he added. Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, that all Trump intended to convey was that he’s “gonna right this ship called America and pass it on to the next generation.”

Perhaps. But the great unknown is how much time Trump truly wants to spend righting this ship called America — and when he’ll ever be ready to pass it on to the next generation should he return to the Oval Office. The wisest course is to recognize that he has repeatedly said over the last several years that he wants to occupy the White House for more than two terms. If Republicans gain control of both chambers of Congress in November and eventually secure support from at least 38 states, they could toy with the and repeal the 22^nd Amendment, which limits presidents to two terms.

Trump has never wanted to surrender power. After all, he and his allies unsuccessfully waged dozens of legal challenges to the results of the 2020 presidential election. They created slates of fake electors to undermine the Electoral College tally, and Trump personally pressured state officials to dispute the results. He also fomented an insurrection at the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to try to overturn the election more baldly and brazenly. He continues to perpetrate the lie that that election was rigged against him. And he has said in the past that eight years in the White House might not satisfy him.

“He’s now president for life. President for life,” in 2018. “And look, he was able to do that. I think it’s great. Maybe we’ll have to give that a shot someday.” In 2019, he about remaining president “at least for 10 or 14 years.” That same year he also took to Twitter that his supporters “would demand that I stay longer” than two terms in office. He of three terms again when he was campaigning in 2020.

The American Conservative, a founded by former Republican strategist and presidential contender Patrick Buchanan and others, “as a challenge to the GOP Beltway conservative establishment.” Project 2025, the by Trump advisers and supporters that offers a possible policy if Trump returns to the White House, also counts the American Conservative as a member of its .

Earlier this year, the American Conservative a article arguing that the 22nd Amendment “is an arbitrary restraint on presidents who serve nonconsecutive terms — and on democracy itself.” Trump supporters are particularly poorly served by term limits, the piece said, before advocating for “Trump 2028!”

A couple of months after the article was published, a National Rifle Association gathering how long he should stay in office: “You know, FDR 16 years — almost 16 years — he was four terms. I don’t know, are we going to be considered three term? Or two term?” Some attendees shouted back: “Three.”

Trump has suggested that he would respect the Constitution. In a with Time magazine earlier this year, he said he had no intention of trying to overturn the 22^nd Amendment. “I wouldn’t be in favor of a challenge. Not for me,” he said. “I wouldn’t be in favor of it at all. I intend to serve four years and do a great job.”

So who should we believe, the Trump who showed up for the Time interview or the Trump who routinely tried to subvert the Constitution during his presidency? I’d bet on the latter. At his core, Trump is an outlaw and an authoritarian.

To be sure, Congress may remain divided after November. And corralling dozens of states to force through a repeal of the 22^nd Amendment would also be . But Trump has spent decades finding his way around rules and the law. Uphill tasks are unlikely to slow him down.

Trump has told us before that he wants an extended stay in the White House and he said it again on Friday night. We should take him at his word. Given the opportunity to sit on a throne, he’ll act on it.

BLOOMBERG OPINION