No matter how miserable Democrats might get during the second Trump administration, thanks to the 22nd Amendment they can at least rest assured he’ll be barred from ever serving as president after he leaves office on January 20, 2029.
Or will he?
While some Trump allies and even the president himself have hinted at their desire to eliminate the two-term presidential limit established in 1951, efforts to do so gained new life in February when the Third Term Project made its appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
Perhaps the most visible and vocal member of this group of loosely affiliated pro-Trump organizations is Shane Trejo, a writer and Republican activist best known for his bylines at hard-right website Big League Politics, where he’s been a contributor since 2019. In an interview with The Righting, Trejo made it clear that the Third Term Project isn’t looking to do away with presidential term limits based on general principle. Rather, their goal is to keep Trump in office as long as possible.
In Search of a Caesar
“President Trump is a unique case,” Trejo said. “He has emerged to defeat the political establishment and the special interests in both major parties – the ‘Uni-party,’ as we call it. We believe he deserves a third term because only he has had the charisma and fortitude to overcome all of the institutional impediments put in front of him.”
While Trejo’s recent Big League Politics articles lack the invective many of his right-wing peers traffic in, he still hasn’t lost his knack for
provocation. The Third Term Project’s logo features a white-marble, Julius Caesar-style bust of Trump complete with a toga and laurels, and Trejo has been quoted comparing the president to both the Roman emperor and Napoleon.
“We believe that the Caesar logo is not only cool but also has given us a great deal of free press by liberals freaking out about it on Reddit and X,” Trejo said when asked if comparing Trump to two figures not exactly known for loving democracy could scare away some would-be supporters. “We are leaning into more audacious branding so expect more of that from us.”
Trejo also said he isn’t concerned by the fact that Trump would be 86 at the completion of his hypothetical third term, despite the critical role that old age played in the 2024 election.
“Trump’s vitality is incredible. It almost seems like he is aging in reverse sometimes,” Trejo said. “It’s not like Trump is like a Biden who is frail and declining and hanging by a thread. Trump’s mental fitness is not a problem.”
A Right Wing Veteran
Describing his views as “very conservative, libertarian, or nationalist,” Trejo is no newcomer to Republican politics – he got his start by volunteering for Ron Paul’s presidential campaigns in 2008 and 2012, briefly served as the Republican chairman for Michigan’s 11th Congressional District, and is chairman of the Michigan-focused Grand New Party PAC. He’s also no newcomer to controversy – he once co-hosted a podcast titled “Blood, Soil, and Liberty” with Alex Witoslawski, an activist with ties to the defunct neo-Nazi group Identity Evropa. He is also grassroots director of Republicans for National Renewal, a 501(c)(4) organization that has been criticized by the Anti-Defamation League for hobnobbing with right-wing European parties like Poland’s Law and Justice and the Serbian People’s Party.
An Unclear Path
The prospect of a third Trump term has been met with varying degrees of credulity and enthusiasm by conservative media figures and politicians. Steve Bannon has said he is a “firm believer” that Trump will run for and win a third term, while Bill O’Reilly dismissed the possibility as a “fantasy.” Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee has called Trump’s many allusions to extending his stay in the White House “clearly a joke,” but one of his colleagues is working to make it a possibility. In January, Rep. Andy Ogles, also of Tennessee, introduced an amendment that would allow presidents to serve three terms so long as they had not also served two consecutive terms, a stipulation that would pave the way for Trump round three while also preventing other living two-termers Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama from serving again.
Trejo himself sounded undecided on the best path forward to extend Trump’s presidency. He praised Ogles’s proposed amendment but also suggested that the two-term limit could be repealed through an Article V convention of the states. He also said the Third Term Project was “open to other options or alternative theories” and would be “preparing academic work and white papers” regarding their ideas in the coming weeks.
Regardless of how they get there, Trejo believes that the Third Term Project will reach its goal. When asked who he’d like to see succeed Trump if the president is prevented from running again, he refused to entertain the possibility.
“JD Vance has done a great job as vice president and is a very young man,” Trejo said. “He’ll still be in his 40s in 2032 when Donald Trump leaves office.”
Michael Lovito is a Brooklyn-based reporter and critic whose work has appeared in Salon, Brooklyn Magazine, Pavement Pieces, and The District. He also serves as editor-in-chief of the politics and pop culture website The Postrider. @MLovito
