Author Jonathan Karl has suggested that Donald Trump and Steve Bannon aren’t serious about the president seeking an unconstitutional third term in the White House, and are instead pushing the idea to troll the president’s potential heir, Vice President JD Vance.
Karl, author of the damning book Retribution: Donald Trump and the Campaign That Changed America, was asked during a Thanksgiving appearance on MS Now’s Morning Joe whether he believes Trump will “voluntarily” leave the White House at the end of his second and final term.
“I do think that the reason why he keeps bringing up Trump 2028—he’s got the hats he shows everybody… it is absolutely trolling,” Karl said. “And frankly, Steve Bannon, who was the one that really started to get this going, is trolling not just Trump’s critics and Democrats; he’s also trolling JD Vance. Bannon, privately, not a big JD Vance fan at all.”
For months, Trump has suggested he could try to run for president again in 2028, despite the 22nd Amendment prohibiting him from doing so. At first, it seemed Trump was simply baiting his critics by implying he might try to remain in power, or using it as an excuse to excite his MAGA base during public appearances.
However, the president began taking the idea more seriously, telling NBC News in March that he was “not joking” about exploring how he might stay in office. In October, the 79-year-old ultimately admitted that the Constitution makes it “pretty clear” he cannot serve a third term.
Bannon, a top Trump ally and host of the influential War Room podcast, told The Economist last month that he was working on a “plan” that could allow Trump to run again in 2028, without offering further details.
The issue for Vance—or any other potential 2028 Republican hopeful, such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio—is that they cannot launch a White House bid while MAGA remains fixated on the idea that Trump will somehow pursue a third term.
Speaking on Morning Joe, Karl said Trump will struggle to acknowledge that he must eventually leave office, therefore making him a “lame duck” president in his final months.
“At what point does he actually make it clear, ‘No, I’m not running, and it’s one of these guys, or it’s that guy,’ and now all the attention shifts?” Karl said. “I covered the Obama White House. You know what it’s like in 2015, 2016, when you’re a lame duck, nobody pays any attention.
“I don’t know how he voluntarily passes the baton,” he added. “I don’t think, right now, he’s serious about staying another term.”
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