The Media’s Third Term Fever Dream Is Back and Trump Is Laughing

Trump Teases, Media Panics: The Third Term Fever Dream Lives On

Every few weeks, someone in the press wakes up convinced Donald Trump is plotting to install himself as Supreme Leader of America Forever. Cue the sirens. Cue the think pieces. Cue Politico breathlessly reminding readers that yes, the Constitution still exists. It is almost as if the media cannot function without imagining Trump holding a golden scepter and announcing a monarchy from the South Lawn.

The president has repeatedly hinted at trying to find a way around the 22nd Amendment, which limits a presidency to two terms or one if they served more than two years of another’s term. As he flew from Malaysia to Japan he told reporters he would “love” to seek a third term and at times has adorned his White House desk with red-and-white Trump 2028 baseball caps.

Johnson poured cold water on the idea in a press conference Tuesday, telling reporters that Trump knows he can’t run again and only does so to irritate critics. – Politico

Trump loves to punk people, especially the media. He knows exactly which word will send reporters into a constitutional panic and which wink will launch a dozen cable news segments. If there is a button to push, he taps it with a grin just to watch the reaction. It is performance art at this point, and the national press remains his most loyal audience.

The Media’s Meltdown Over Nothing

This week’s alarm came courtesy of Politico with a headline announcing that Trump seems to close the door on trying for another term. Translation: Trump joked. Reporters had a meltdown. Speaker Mike Johnson showed up as the Constitution Translator in the room. The entire chain of events could have been a sitcom episode, but instead, we were treated to Very Serious Political Reporting.

It all started on Air Force One when Trump told reporters, “Based on what I read, I guess I am not allowed to run.” The press pool reacted like they had just spotted a double rainbow. First, shock that he reads. Then, sheer relief that Article II has not been rewritten overnight. Meanwhile, Trump delivered the line with that trademark twinkle that says he knows exactly what he is doing. He stirs the pot and watches everyone react.

Trump 2028! pic.twitter.com/B6B5Kflj3g

— AppPatriotgirl (@jsmith4966) October 27, 2025

The Media’s Favorite Make-Believe Crisis

Trump has been teasing a third term the way dads threaten to turn the car around on a road trip. Nobody actually believes the car is turning. The fun is in the overreaction. When Trump plops a TRUMP 2028 hat on his desk, the media acts like the republic is one merch drop away from collapse. When he tosses out a playful “we will see what happens,” network panels leap into constitutional crisis mode. And if he so much as smiles after saying something ambiguous, someone out there writes the word autocracy in bold capital letters.

It is not that anyone seriously believes he can run again. Legal scholars have explained it. Critics have explained it. Mike Johnson has explained it like a patient parent reminding a toddler that the dog bowl is not for drinking. Johnson even admitted Trump plays along simply to irritate his critics. That might be the most relatable sentence he has ever spoken.

 Political Fan Fiction at Its Finest

Washington loves a wild hypothetical, so another rumor popped up that Trump could run as vice president and then somehow vault back into the Oval Office. The political imagination knows no bounds. That idea lasted about five minutes before Trump shut it down with a simple, “It is too cute.” He is not wrong. Cute plots belong in kids movies, not in the Presidential Records Act.

Here is the real story: Trump knows the rules. He also knows that his critics treat every tease like a five alarm constitutional fire. And he enjoys the show. The media keeps insisting he is plotting to become President for Life. Trump keeps insisting that this is their own fan fiction and not his.

This entire drama reveals far more about the media than about Trump. They have spent so many years imagining him as a threat to democracy that they cannot accept the possibility that he might just be having a little fun. They keep checking the Twenty-Second Amendment like it changed overnight. They keep whipping themselves into panic over hats and half-jokes. They keep falling for the bait every single time.

Trump is not clawing at a locked Oval Office door demanding a third term. He is traveling the world, cracking jokes, and living rent free in the minds of political reporters who have forgotten how humor works. If he ever truly wanted unlimited terms, the first sign would not be a constitutional lawsuit. It would be a brand new hat.

Featured Image: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons/edited in Canva Pro

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