Five ways President Trump might serve a third term

President Trump recently told NBC News that he does not rule out seeking a third term in the White House, saying there are methods for doing so and that he is “not joking.”

“A lot of people want me to do it,” he said. “But, I mean, I basically tell them we have a long way to go, it’s very early in the administration.” When asked whether he had been presented with plans to allow him to seek a third term, he said, “There are methods by which you could do it.”

What are such methods?

Why this question is complicated

At issue is the 22^nd Amendment to the US Constitution, which states:

No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.

Since Mr. Trump has been “elected to the office of the President” twice, it would seem that the question is a moot point. Some might argue that since his terms were nonconsecutive, the amendment doesn’t apply to him. However, it makes no distinction between consecutive and nonconsecutive terms in office.

Here’s where the story gets complicated: The amendment only prohibits a person from being “elected” to office more than twice but says nothing about a person becoming president in other ways.

Here’s one possibility: Someone could run for president in 2028 with Mr. Trump as their running mate, be elected, and then resign from office, returning Mr. Trump to the White House.

The 12^th Amendment states that “no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States,” but it does not specify that such a person is “ineligible to be elected Vice-President.” Perhaps this simply imposes the Constitution’s stated criteria for presidential eligibility: that they be a natural-born citizen of the US, at least thirty-five years of age, and have lived in the US for at least fourteen years. The US Supreme Court would have to decide this issue.

A second option would be for Mr. Trump to be elected vice president in 2028, then the elected president to be declared “unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office,” in which case Mr. Trump would become Acting President via the 25^th Amendment.

A third option would be for a person to be elected vice president in 2028 and then resign. The newly elected president could then nominate Mr. Trump for the position and Congress could approve the nomination (as occurred via the 25^th Amendment with Gerald Ford in 1973), the president could resign, and Mr. Trump could take his place.

A fourth option would be for the Constitution to be amended to allow a person to serve three non-consecutive terms as president. A member of Congress proposed such an amendment in January, but it is highly unlikely in our era of intense political polarization.

A fifth approach would be for Mr. Trump to be appointed by the next president as an unofficial adviser, allowing him to continue to exercise the power of the presidency without the actual title.

“What I have written I have written”

In these weeks leading to Easter, I am continuing on occasion to spotlight aspects of the story that are often overlooked. Here’s another: when the Romans crucified our Lord,

Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” . . . So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written” (John 19:19, 21–22).

Pontius Pilate was much more right than he knew.

Jesus was born a king, as the Magi acknowledged by their words (Matthew 2:2) and worship (v. 11). He lived as a king (Isaiah 9:6–7; John 18:36), died as a king (as Pilate acknowledged), was raised as a king (Ephesians 1:20a), ascended to heaven as a king (vv. 20b–21), rules there now as a king (v. 22; Hebrews 1:3–4; Revelation 1:5–6), and will return as “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Revelation 19:16; cf. Daniel 7:13–14).

Here’s the problem: Americans like our leaders to be elected by us and thus responsible to us.

President Trump’s comments about a third term have been widely reported in part because some are concerned he might return to office in ways they believe the Constitution does not intend and voters did not choose. The current controversy over unelected “activist judges” who have issued orders blocking parts of the president’s agenda illustrates this concern from the other side of the aisle.

Americans view our leaders as extensions of ourselves who are accountable to us as they serve “we the people.”

It is therefore natural, though tragic, that many of us view Christ in the same way.

“Able to do far more abundantly”

Even though Jesus is the king of the universe who rules beyond our election or opinions, he limits his omnipotence to our free will. He knocks at the door of our hearts, waiting for admission into our lives (cf. Revelation 3:20). He forces neither his salvation nor his abundant life on us. Only when we elect him our “president” and king can we fully experience the best his omniscient, omnibenevolent omnipotence can do in and through our lives.

We often blame God for the suffering in our world, but how much of our pain would be alleviated if we lived by his word and will? If, for instance, we refused lust (Matthew 5:28–30), what would become of the plague of pornography, adultery, and sex trafficking in our society? If we reserved sex for marriage (Genesis 2:24–25; Hebrews 13:4), what would become of abortion, adultery, and divorce? If we venerated life as sacred as does our Lord (cf. Genesis 1:27), what would happen to crime, abortion, and euthanasia?

Clearly, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34).

Unfortunately, as fallen people, our default position is to rule on the throne of our own lives. Unless we consciously dethrone ourselves each day, enthrone Jesus as our king, and then keep him there through our worship and obedience, we are our own kings.

By this measure, who is your king right now?

“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever” (Ephesians 3:20–21).

Amen?

Quote for the day:

“No single piece of our mental world is to be hermetically sealed off from the rest, and there is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: ‘Mine!’” —Abraham Kuyper

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