The Chris Cuomo Project - The Truth About Trump’s Third Term Rumors

Episode Date: April 3, 2025

Chris Cuomo breaks down the panic over Donald Trump potentially seeking a third term in office, pushing back on viral claims and explaining what’s legally and constitutionally possible. Cuomo walks through the arguments about repealing the 22nd Amendment, national emergencies, and vice presidential loopholes — and warns against fueling conspiracy thinking that overstates Trump’s power. He also calls out the Supreme Court, questions the erosion of due process, and challenges listeners to think critically about fear-based narratives in American politics. Follow and subscribe to The Chris Cuomo Project on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube for new episodes every Tuesday and Thursday: https://linktr.ee/cuomoproject Join Chris Ad-Free On Substack: http://thechriscuomoproject.substack.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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You want to know what's going to happen at the end of President Trump's term and what it means for who's in power next? I can tell you. MUSIC Chris Cuomo here. Welcome to the Chris Cuomo here. Welcome to the Chris Cuomo Project. All right, let's talk about it. Third term, right?

I got to own it because Steve Bannon was on my show here at News Nation and he said, no, no, no, I don't know why I'm appearing in polls for the next president because I'm backing Trump. Wait, Trump? He's already been elected twice. Yeah, but I think he's gonna get a third term, says Steve Bannon. How?

22nd Amendment, whatever that is. Yeah, I know, we're working on it, he said, and everybody gets scared. Ah, don't worry, it's not a thing, it's not a thing. And then they ask President Trump, and what does he say? Oh, I'm open to a third term, but a few years away. Let's think about it then. He doesn't respect the Constitution. This is going to happen. He's never going to leave. He's a king. He's a king. Where's it all coming from? Here. Here, the creator of crazy town, right here between your ears.

Let's take a look at it. Okay, let's be critical thinkers. Now, yes, if you want to invest in one end of the spectrum, which is Trump is a sick, mean, mendacity machine, desperate, who's surrounded by weak, feckless, useless enablers, and he wants to be a dictator. That's why he likes Putin. That's why he likes Kim Jong-un. That's why he hates our allies.

He wants to make this the kingdom of Trumpdom and make us all paint ourselves orange. Okay, you want to start there? Fine. Okay, but know this. You are only being motivated by your own crazy, and you are taking the bait. And you are doing exactly what you say you oppose most, which is aggrandizing Trump's significance. You are elevating him above every institution and every part of the United States government, its culture and its people. Just know that that's what you're doing

because you're saying he's bigger and stronger than all of it. And I don't see any basis for that. What do you mean? Look at the last election. Okay, let's look at it. We didn't even have to delay the inauguration. Okay? We had to do that in 2000 when they were litigating it, which was a fair question. I don't know that I agree with the decision. I could go

either way on it, that Supreme Court decision in 2000, but he left. Oh yeah, but after January 6th, look, January 6th sucked. And it was a disgusting display of bad behavior of non-patriots and dirtbags, in my opinion. But it was not an insurrection. And we were not anywhere close to anything being terrible. It was mishandled, it was not an insurrection. And we were not anywhere close to anything being terrible. It was mishandled, it was ignored, it was abusive on a lot of different levels, and then it was politicized out the ass.

But no, we were not a day away from our democracy ending. No. Okay. So why should you believe that there's no reason to believe that there's a third term coming? Because there is no energy behind it that would make sense legally or practically. I don't even believe that his party wants him here any longer than he needs to be. And in fact, if you look carefully, you already see that people there are starting

to step in their own direction and away from Trump. Even with the signal gate stuff, which I thought was a lot of propaganda, they screwed up, they know they screwed up. If it were to happen again, there'd be consequences. But the media on the left was just looking for scalps and you weren't going to get it. Not this soon, not for something like that. Why? Because the ultimate execution of the mission worked and nobody got hurt because they were talking about it recklessly. Right? So where is the victim in this? That's why it couldn't become a bigger deal. All right? But in that moment, what did you see? People saying, look, this is bad.

And they gotta stop trying to cover it up. I'm telling you, Republicans know that there's gotta be life for them after Trump and they're trying to figure out how. So that's the first ingredient. But now let's take a deeper walk down why this isn't gonna happen. And why I think that Trump should be careful that this isn't a bunch of people somewhere in Iowa saying, we'd love to have

Trump forever. That's one thing the MAGA people can say what they want to say. Okay, they'll have a lot to live down as well. See how those red hats age. But for him, I don't think it's about grandeur. I don't think it's about making him look big as much as it is making him look bad. That he's somebody where you have to openly consider whether or not he just doesn't give a shit

about the Constitution, okay? Now, the main reason it can't happen is because by law in the constitution, it can't. All right? FDR had a lot of terms too, because the country, this is the theory that Bannon is going with, is the FDR theory. Well, the government was in such a hole, and now we're coming out of it as a people, and things are so good that what had been a tradition under Washington, right?

Now, the mistake is Bannon and Coe saying, well, FDR changed it. No, he didn't. No, he didn't. Before FDR, before the 22nd Amendment, which was ratified, I think in 1951, and it was ratified really fast by constitutional amendment standards,

and that showed you the urgency and the unanimity, the unanimity on this, how unanimous this was among states, that Washington all the way up until him, so right before him with Hoover, were about two terms as a tradition, not as a law. So then FDR comes in, 32, 36, 40, 44. Why?

Because people wanted them in there. The New Deal was working, we were getting back on top. He got us through the war, we won, there were boom times, blah, blah, blah, blah. He tried to extend the Supreme Court. What happened there? He got shot down. Now, Congress decides how many justices they are.

The Constitution decides the term. So you would need a constitutional amendment to change the term of a Supreme Court justice. You would need just an act of Congress to expand the court. So FDR failed, why? Because, and let me tell you, he was a lot stronger than Trump was, is right now, in terms of his pull in the country

and his control over our politics, because Congress went against him having that kind of power to stack the court. Then they passed the 22nd Amendment, which says what you think it says, which is you get elected twice. Now, if you're going to argue like I started here, go straight to crazy town, yeah, but he doesn't care. Well, then nothing matters. Then nothing matters. Then why wouldn't he do it now? Okay, you know what I'm saying? Why would he even wait? If you're gonna exercise that kind of recklessness, why, why would you even feign?

Oh, but can't you see he's trying? He's doing what they all do. He's just doing it in more ugliest and obvious and arguably obnoxious fashion. He's testing the limits of his power. Is it more clumsy? Is it less artful? Sure, sure, sure.

But that's what it is. It's not that different than what Obama wanted to do with DACA or Biden wanted to do with the college loan program. Okay? Presidents like to test their reach. Why? Because people in power want more power.

And Congress makes it too easy for them. Congress is giving the executive more power all the time. Look at the difference between making war and declaring war. The line used to be so bright now Congress will let a president basically do whatever they want militarily. Support comes from AG1. We're starting to get into the nice time of the year. We're gonna get outside. You're gonna get outside. You're gonna get that natural vitamin D, but you're gonna start focusing on yourself

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Two thirds of both houses, not gonna happen. And then even if you did, you'd have to send it to the states and you'd have to get three quarters of the states. That's how you get a constitutional amendment or undo a constitutional amendment. So that's not gonna happen. And I wish it would because I want Trump forever.

No, because I would love a constitutional convention which the states can require. I think it would be so good for our country to have a constitutional convention and to go through what matters to us and what doesn't and have the debates and spend the time and make the arguments and see where we wind up as a people. I think it would be great for us. I would love a constitutional convention. It was a huge dream of my father to have on the state or federal level. Will it happen? No fucking way. Why? Because the powerful don't want to cede the power. They don't want to take that chance. See the game. See the game. So repealing the 22nd Amendment?

No way. Okay, what's the next one? This is my favorite because, man, people just rely on you being a sucker and being a fool and they think you just won't do your own homework or research. So here's what's going to happen. Trump is going to run again as vice president. And then the one who runs as president is going to just step down and there you go. And he's just going to keep doing that till he's 127 because he'll never die

because he's Trump and whatever he's dying his hair with is making him superhuman. No. Why? Because of the 12th Amendment, which was done because I think it was Aaron Burr and Jefferson were in that weird tie and they had to figure out what happens. It used to be a two-ballot structure. You voted for president and then whoever got the vice president was like the runner-up would be VP.

Which you know what, when I think about it, it's not a bad idea. If the first person in the election is president and the second one would be VP, which you know what? When I think about it, it's not a bad idea. If the first person in the election is president and the second one is vice president, you're gonna have a balanced ticket most of the time. It's interesting, right? Anyway, so they passed the 12th Amendment. The 12th Amendment says that the only way

to be vice president is if you are eligible to be president, which makes sense anyway, but makes sense specifically here in our analysis, why? Because for you to be eligible to be vice president, which makes sense anyway, but makes sense specifically here in our analysis. Why? Because for you to be eligible to be vice president, you have to be eligible to be president, and to be eligible to be president, one of the conditions is that you have not been elected twice president already. So Trump would be disqualified from being vice president. Oh, well, they're going to ignore it. Well, if you're going to go to crazy town, then none of the analysis ever matters. But if you're going to go in the land of the reasonable

and what is probable versus only possible on the border of impossible, well, you choose that. I'm a critical thinker. It's not what I do. I don't go to the absurd right away. And so the 12th Amendment stops this great boogeyman that's making it around the internet like the USAID paid for Chelsea Clinton's wedding bullshit.

It's been debunked. Anybody who's still spreading that, see the game. Block that mofo, they're a liar. Now, that's not going to happen, although I'll tell you something that could happen. You can get more than eight years in office as a president. Wanna know how? So the first one is the only legitimate one,

and then we'll go through the illegitimate ones that are the most likely scenarios that would lead Trump to having anything like an extra term. If you start off as VP, you are allowed to serve how many years if the president dies? Two. Without disqualifying yourself from two more election cycles. So, let's look at the Nixon-Ford situation. He serves two years, resigns. Ford gets two years, but now was still eligible for two more election cycles.

Ford lost, but he could have had two more and then he would get 10 years in office. But that's not this scenario because Trump is not starting off as a VP in this. All right? But that's just food for thought, but it's not going to happen. Now, let's go to the ones that would make it possible, not probable, possible. National emergency. Now, interestingly, this is what Trump is litigating right now.

What is behind the litigation with the district court? Boasberg. I'm using the AEA, the Alien Enemies Act, and the state secrets privilege. Why? Neither really applies to these immigration exercises and operations. Why use those two? Trump is using those two because both,

he argues, his lawyers argue, focus or center on a president's sole discretion of a dispositive issue in the operation of national security or foreign affairs. The AEA never been used like this, it's supposed to be at a time of war or foreign invasion, but who gets to decide?

Well, if it's a war, it's because there's an act of Congress declaring it one. Okay, but what about an invasion? That's the question that they want before the Supreme Court. Is it the president's sole discretion and sole power to decide if there is an invasion or not? If it is the president's sole power and it cannot be reviewed, now that's a little absurd to me, the president's sole power and it cannot be reviewed,

now that's a little absurd to me, but if the court decides it is, then Trump can say that El Tren or MS-13 or whatever gang he wants from Venezuela or El Salvador or wherever they're coming from, if he wants to call that an invasion by Venezuela, then he can, if it is decided that it is his exclusive and sole authority to do so. That's why they're picking that law. That's why they're picking the state secret's privilege. Why? Because they're going to ask

the court who gets to decide if it's a state secret or not. Is it the executive is just me and nobody gets to check me on that? Great. That's what's going on with that litigation and it matters to this question, why? Well, if you wanna have a conspiracy theory, the conspiracy theory that makes the only sense other than Trump's an asshole

and he's gonna try to subvert the constitution is that he's having that litigation to prove that he has the sole discretion over this. And then what's gonna happen is at the end of his term, he's gonna declare a national emergency. Although again, I don't know why you wait till the end of your term. It's not like he likes to avoid trouble,

but he would then declare a national emergency, which is in his sole discretion, which would have been bootstrapped and justified by this court case. And then he will just not allow elections and he'll stay in power. Okay, the biggest problem with that is, in the Constitution, who determines when we have elections?

Congress, okay? So, the president doesn't have control over elections. Now, in an emergency he does, but an emergency can't last forever. So he is blocked from having power over elections and planning for them by the Constitution. So he'd be a short timer even if he did that. Okay, well, what about martial law?

Now, I believe martial law is explained by the analysis I just gave you about the national emergency. Martial law, martial comes from the word for pertaining to the military, okay? And it's about when the military takes over the administration of justice in an emergency situation where the government isn't able to do what it usually does. Now again, this is something that is very temporary and that often Congress will have a role in other than through the immediate.

So once again, it is a very limited reckoning of what could happen. Now people are saying, what are you talking about? It's happening in Israel and in Ukraine right now. Okay. Both of those are active wars that they're in, right? And both of them have applications of their own constitution and law recognizing the need to not have elections right now.

Both of them work off a parliamentary system. And that's a little different because you have coalition governments and you have elections that are called for in a different way than just being scheduled as ours are. So there's actually a distinction legally in terms of the setup of those governments that make an operative difference.

But they're also in the middle of a wartime. And we have done that before and not done that. So we don't have the precedential value here of that kind of power. And those are not direct analogies, point for point, in fact for fact, Israel and Ukraine. Now, the wild card here, to a certain degree, is the Supreme Court, but only to a certain degree.

Because if that court gives him all the power that he wants and creates this unified executive boogeyman theory that really the president was supposed to have everything. Now, I don't believe that. this unified executive bogeyman theory that really the president was supposed to have everything. Now, I don't believe that. Our history is so long. You ever hear the John F. Kennedy stories about how he started in the House because the House has power,

and Congress has so much power, and he got to the House and he was like, I don't have a lot of power here. Then he went to the Senate and said, the Senate is where the power is. Only a hundred of them, it's co-equal branch with Congress, this is with he went to the Senate and said, the Senate is where the power is. There's only a hundred of them. You know, it's co-equal branch with Congress, you know, this is with the House.

This is going to be great. This is where the power is. He got there, he's like, I don't really have any power here. Then he ran for president and he won. He got to the White House. He's like, there's not a lot of power here. Why? That's the setup. The setup is checks and balances, right?

So again, unless you invest in the crazy sauce of Trump's going to throw it all out and just stay in and be a despot, okay, then that's what's gonna happen. But I don't see any basis for that other than what he says. And again, what he says is different than what he does. Look at what's gonna happen with the tariffs. Okay? As soon as they start biting him in the ass, if they don't come with a better deal before that,

they're gonna go away. Why? as they start biting him in the ass, if they don't come with a better deal before that, they're going to go away. Why? Because he does not want to give the economy a beating and have to own it because it'll fuck his legacy and it will fuck him in the midterms. And he knows it. This is dicey what they're doing. That's why they're so desperate to distract you. Now, why he called it Liberation Day, I don't know. Why he drew attention to it, I don't know. Why he played with Make America Wealthy again when he's putting tariffs out, which is gonna drain your disposable income, I don't know.

Sometimes it doesn't make sense. Sometimes it's just a lot is better for him. Just more, more is better. More shit going on is better. I don't know. But if the Supreme Court gives him that power, it does open an avenue of how he decides to exercise it. Now, do I think that the Supreme Court will give him the power?

Maybe. And I wouldn't have said that without this court composition, but I believe that this court composition is in my lifetime, in my lifetime, an observable low point. And not because they're all conservatives, but because they're all driven by their personal politics. And it's obvious.

It's obvious. The decisions are all political. They make sense politically. And I believe that's true about the Democrats on there also, that their reckoning of the law is smacks of politics more than it does any kind of jurisprudential philosophical basis. And I think that's really sad, but I also think it may not be sad because at least it's real.

And this idea that these people don't get vetted based on their politics. Boy, I'd have to see the case. Oh, it's star-ray decisis. I have to respect presidential value on that. It's all bullshit. Nothing is star-ray decisis. It's the thing has been decided. If they decide to change it,

and sometimes they do it for the better, and sometimes they do it for the worse, right? You can feel how you want about Roe v. Wade versus Dodd, about Plessy versus Ferguson versus Brown versus the Board of Education. Okay? So sometimes what was star-ray decisis, separate but equal, needs to be changed into integration and equal is equal. Right? So this court could do that. Why? Because they are clearly beholden to Trump. And so much so that I don't know that they are going to rule against him on anything. I haven't really seen it yet.

You know, a couple of cases here where they seem to give indications and go out of their way to give subtle indications as opposed to explicit ones, explicit or express ones, that, you know, we don't really want to do this, don't make us have to do this, we may do something you don't like. But there's already an inkling from Alito and a couple others that they do believe that the president really should be able to do anything he wants when it comes to certain

areas of our government. And immigration, foreign policy, these are things where there is law and tradition of giving presidents wide birth. But extending his own term, this is Trump Derangement Syndrome. Now, I believe that Trump Derangement Syndrome is real. It is just more real than we think it is, meaning MAGA people have it too, because MAGA people think that this guy is something more than what he is.

And MAGA people believe that whatever he tells them is true. And MAGA people believe that whatever Elon Musk says is true. And MAGA people believe that whatever they're told about the government by anyone with Trump is true. And that is a real level of gullibility that I have never seen in an American electorate. Now the right will say that about the left because that's what they do. The left, oh boy, they're so cohesive.

They're always together, their fingers into a fist. That's bullshit. The left is like a bunch of cats. Look at what just happened in this last election cycle. Did they look together to you? It's always been that way. The right has always been more galvanized. Now, I get why they say it.

They get why they say it because they wanna make the left look scary, make them look formidable, like an opponent. They're out to get you. They're the enemy. That works very well in zero-sum binary politics. They are bad, so we must be better. Those are very different propositions,

but not when you only have one choice. That's why they want to keep it the way it is with the two parties. Now, I believe our institutions are stronger. I believe the law is real. I believe that the Constitution is real. And that may sound like something everybody says, but man, they don't live it. They do not live it. Trump does not live it.

Okay. Oh, of course I'm going to listen to judicial orders. I'll follow them. Really? First chance he had to prove it right after that, he didn't follow the order. And he invoked the national secrets privilege. Oh well that's legitimate. Look it's legitimate because he's working the system and as long as you're working the system that's fine but there is no state secret issue with who was on the plane of gang members or people you said were gang members that we now know you weren't right about all of them. This is why you don't rush due process.

You made mistakes. I'm surprised. You know, imagine if he like really starts to go hog wild about the death penalty again. How many mistakes we'd make in this country the way he wants to do it because of his lack of respect for due process. And I think due process is the most important part of our legal system. Frustrating as hell. Frustrating as hell seems like it makes things take forever, but it's what makes our justice system better than things I've seen elsewhere in the world.

A lot of you have decided to take the bait about the third term because you're frightened by Trump because he says crazy shit and he does things that don't make sense and he seems to be surrounded by a bunch of enablers who let him say things that don't make sense and are often really wrong. I get it. But you're still taking the bait. And you're still investing belief that Trump is bigger than everything else in America. And one, man, have you given him a lot of credit.

And two, man, are you taking a lot away from our country and our democracy and our people? And I'm not with you on it. I don't believe that this is anything other than him patting himself on the back and his boys saying, Yeah, he's bigger and better than the rest of us in the system. I say, don't give them what they're looking for. Don't feed it. Don't take the bait. And do the checking.

A lot of this stuff is just, well, you know, he can't. No, he can't. National emergency may be temporarily, but doesn't give him control over elections. Constitution is pretty clear. Now, if some of these questions are not clear, then they should be tested by the courts as scary as that proposition is. And if the court just decides to play politics, then we could have some bad rulings. And that would lead to some bad outcomes.

And sure, you could, what if, what if, what if, what if, what if, what if, what if, what if, what if, what if, what if, what if, what if, what if, you can do that. I don't live my life that way. I don't live my life that way. The farther you get away from this actual moment, the less control and the less reasonableness you can apply because the more unknown there is.

Yeah, but failing to plan is planning to fail. I'm with you. But you can only plan for what makes sense and what's reasonable and practical. Well, then what are we going to do to keep him from having a third term? I don't know. I can't tell you that today. I don't even know that I have to worry about it. What do you mean?

He said he's open to it. He's open to anything. If it's good for him, he's open to anything. He'd be like 82 at the time, by the way. Well, he's just going to give it to his son. Well, you can say whatever you want. Yeah, he's going to give it to his son. He's going to give it to all of his sons.

And then they're going to fight it out, like in Game of Thrones. And one of them is going to eat the head of the other in public. And then he's going to marry, one of them is going to marry all the wives of all the other ones and his own mom. And how much crazy shit do you want to come up with? I mean, how much?

How much boogeyman do you want in your life? Just deal with the truth. It's more than enough. Okay? He's definitely trying to grab power. No, I'm not impressed by his efforts at this point. Not to grab power, no. And no, I don't give him the excuse of it's only been 70 days, 80 days, 50 days, 100 days, whatever it is. It's about your intentionality. I feel the same way about Doge. Oh, well, it's only been 50 days. Then stop saying you found shit that you can't prove is what you say it is. I'm not telling you you have to have all the answers, but if you're going to say you have answers and then you get them wrong,

or you won't show me proof of them, you're going to have a problem. And he does have a problem with it. And if you look at the polling, even of his own voters, you're not happy with what he's focusing on and the amount of chaos. And I hope he gets your message. And I hope he gets this one too. Your time as president is over at the end of this term, so Mr. President, you better make of it whatever you can in terms of your legacy. Because in this case, it's one and done. Now, you don't have to trust that, but you gotta know the law and you gotta know the facts and the circumstances that would make it anything like what you're afraid it could be. Don't take the bait, okay? Semper

vigilandum, of course. You got to be on your game. You got to be vigilant. You got to make sure that the institutions are functioning. That's why these mid terms are going to be a really big deal. They're shaping up to be a really big deal in terms of the balance of power in this democracy and who's going to fight for what is right. That's how I see it. How do you? I'm Chris Cuomo. Thank you for subscribing and following at The Chris Cuomo Project. I hope this was helpful. Food for thought for your own

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and access to me answering questions only for those subscribers on a weekly basis. It's all right there, so let's get after it.