Tamara Keith and Amy Walter on Trump flirting with the idea of ​​a third term

Jeff Bennett:

The government shutdown continues into its fifth week, and President Trump is once again testing political boundaries, this time by hinting at the possibility of a third term.

For more on that and the other political stories shaping the week, we’re joined now by the Politics Monday duo. This is The Cook Policy Report’s Amy Walter with NPR’s Amy Walter and Tamara Keith.

Happy Monday.

Tamara Keith, NPR:

Welcome.

Amy Walter, Cook Political Report:

Welcome.

Jeff Bennett:

So it appears that Steve Bannon, the former presidential aide and perpetual provocateur, is deliberately stirring things up by floating the idea of ​​a third Trump term. The president said on Air Force One early this morning that he would be open to that. I listen.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I would like to do that. I have the best numbers ever and it’s absolutely terrible. I have the best numbers. If you read it…

a question:

You do not rule out a third term?

Donald Trump:

Am I not ruling it out? You’ll have to tell me. All I can say is we have a great group of people, and they don’t.

Jeff Bennett:

Amy, why does the president continue to flirt with the idea of ​​a third term, despite the Constitution’s clear limit against it?

Amy Walter:

Yes.

Well, remember, this is a candidate who said in 2016: Only I can fix this. This was the constant slogan of his first term, and even more so in his second term. Quite frankly, all the institutions and barriers that could theoretically have prevented many of the things Donald Trump is moving forward and doing now have failed to do their job.

And so there is every reason to believe that, in fact, even though the Constitution explicitly provides for the fact that a president cannot serve more than two terms, there is a workaround for that.

Jeff Bennett:

There seems to be another sign, Tam, that he does not view the law as a real constraint on his power or authority. What is Project Permanence trying to do here?

Tamara Keith:

Let’s just talk about a purely political reason why he might do this, because the minute he admits he won’t be in office in 2028, he’s a lame duck. And a lot of his power exists now because people think he’s strong. And if he loses some of that sparkle because he’s, oh, a lame duck, then that becomes a problem for him more broadly.

But, as Amy says, this isn’t just a one-off. This over and over again. Earlier this year, I was on Air Force One. He has again considered the idea of ​​running in 2028 and staying. So I asked him: Are you leaving? Can you guarantee that you will leave your position on January 20, 2029? He said the next question.

So he leaves that there. He does not rule that out. People wonder, is he joking like he sometimes does? Or is he serious? It’s one of those things you might not know until it’s too late.

Amy Walter:

It’s also a reminder that the party is Donald Trump and Donald Trump is the party.

Tamara Keith:

Yes.

(crosstalk)

Amy Walter:

And so whether I’m going to be here or someone else, there’s not going to be a Republican taking office at some point in the near future that’s not going to come from this part of the party, the party of Trump.

Jeff Bennett:

Well, that’s right. I was going to ask you, does this talk of Trump forever underscore how little room there is for the next generation of leaders?

Amy Walter:

definitely.

Jeff Bennett:

The part of this clip that we didn’t play is where he was talking about, well, JD Vance might compete against Marco Rubio and we’ll see what happens.

Amy Walter:

right. True, there is no room for anyone outside of this. This is understandable. I mean the party itself has very few of those votes left, at least from previous times.

The question is, who is the candidate that comes along that will not look like, say, a George W. Bush Republican, but that will be an amalgamation of someone who kind of grew up in the MAGA era, but takes it into the 21st century?

Jeff Bennett:

Well, it’s another Monday where we talk about the government shutdown and nothing seems to have changed significantly, except for the fact that SNAP benefits will expire on November 1st. The federal government and the White House say there will be no specific rescue plan for people.

Is this a pressure point that could radically change the dynamics here?

Tamara Keith:

It’s a pressure point. There are many pressure points. This is a big one. Democrats point out loudly that the initial emergency plan put forward by the government and the Trump administration called for using a reserve fund to continue paying SNAP benefits.

Now the administration says they can’t do that. And so – if people can’t get food, there are actually stronger and greater demands on food banks and other sources of support because the government shutdown is ongoing and people don’t have wages. There are a number of pressure points coming up.

Another thing that happens on November 1st is open enrollment, where people go out and buy health plans or shop for health plans and potentially get a little bit of a shock. And this is another pressure point for Democrats – I mean, this is the whole issue that Democrats have been talking about during this shutdown. This would be something else.

But the chaplain, the Senate chaplain, was mainly praying for an end to the shutdown today at the start of the session. And that could be as effective as any of these other things because there’s no actual movement and President Trump is out of the country all this week.

Amy Walter:

That’s what I was going to say. What seems very clear, and has been clear from the beginning, is that this will only happen if Donald Trump is in the room, unless the president sits down with the leaders of the House and Senate to make something happen.

The fact that he’s gone this week speaks volumes about whether or not this will end. But now we said for the last time that it feels like 300 days, but the last three weeks of this lockdown that will end is when the real pain starts to hit a wide swath of the population.

People who are federal employees have been feeling this pain for some time, those who have been furloughed or laid off. Now it will be some of the most vulnerable among us who will feel this pain. We started to see this in the local press. For example, on the front page of the Denver Post, a few days ago, the governor of Colorado asked people to donate to food banks with the expectation of delaying SNAP benefits.

Jeff Bennett:

Yes.

Well, it’s one week before Election Day in statewide races in New Jersey and Virginia. Both states are scheduled to elect new governors. We’ve got a mayoral race in New York. What are you watching for?

Tamara Keith:

I watch energy prices. It has become an issue in Virginia and New Jersey and in Georgia in some public utility commissioner races. This is something that both parties are trying to make something of, and some Democrats I’ve spoken to see themselves focusing on energy prices as a possible path forward, depending on how these races turn out.

Jeff Bennett:

Did we also get California’s vote on the redistricting referendum?

Amy Walter:

We do. We do.

Jeff Bennett:

Yes.

Amy Walter:

These polls, right now, indicate that it is well ahead and likely to pass, which means that Democrats will now have a chance to undo the gains that Republicans are getting from the Texas map.

The other thing I’ll be looking at closely is which coalition will vote. Donald Trump, especially in a state like New Jersey, was able to achieve significant successes thanks to the support he was getting from traditional Democratic groups such as voters of color. Will these voters show up this time and will they vote Republican? I’m going to look for that.

Jeff Bennett:

My favorite cliche in elections is that it’s all about turnout.

Amy Walter:

As always, always.

Tamara Keith:

On election day.

(He laughed)

Jeff Bennett:

Amy Walter, Tamara Keith, we appreciate you both.

Amy Walter:

You’re welcome.

Tamara Keith:

You’re welcome.