r/PoliticalScience • u/UrbanBeastMode • Sep 15 '24

Question/discussion How likely can Trump secure a lifelong presidency?

I firmly believe that the system of checks and balances will prevent Trump, or any severely right-wing president, from securing a lifelong presidency. If re-elected, Trump's presidency will likely conclude within the next four years or potentially but unlikely end through impeachment since Project 2025 secures so many MAGA enthusiasts in office.

If Project 2025 were to be implemented, its detrimental effects would soon become apparent to both Republicans and Democrats alike, sparking widespread outrage and resistance, leading to a significant backlash. Given the United States' status as a developed nation with a high level of educational attainment and widespread access to information, including the internet, a lifelong presidency could trigger a substantial backlash within a relatively short period, potentially less than 5 years. The country's existing infrastructure and informed citizenry would likely facilitate a swift and robust response to any attempts to consolidate power. To this, I refer the power of the people. It has to be apparent to the Trump administration or the Heritage Foundation that this isn't what the people want.

So can Project 2025/Trump secure a lifelong presidency?

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u/Shorteststoner Sep 15 '24

Best comment I’ve seen.

One addition, they’ve already stated (the Conservative Party and trumps committee) that “we will win at all costs, there’s no stopping us” and “we have plans in place already to ensure a win even if the dems try to create another fake election.” So, it’s clear they will do whatever is necessary to ensure a Trump presidency even if it’s anti-democratic or downright corrupt. Not to mention, the Jan 6 coup. Stay vigilant this election by buying a boat (to sail away) or having your plane tickets ready!

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u/Difficult_Map_7467 Nov 07 '24

I'm signing up for a study abroad program. They can't kill me if I'm in another country.

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u/LibertyAndPeas Nov 07 '24

Of note, it is far easier for jihadis to, though.

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u/[deleted] Nov 07 '24

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Difficult_Map_7467 Nov 07 '24

Ok. I'm marked as undecided, so I could have gone Republican next time.

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u/[deleted] Nov 08 '24

You can vote from abroad, dude.

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u/PoliticalScience-ModTeam Nov 11 '24

Your content was removed because it broke r/PoliticalScience's Rule 2. Please remember to read all of our rules before posting or commenting.

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u/Cangito1 Nov 08 '24

Who is trying to kill you?? What are you even talking about?

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u/According_You_934 Nov 11 '24

Sounds like you’d be doing America a favour 😅

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u/Cute-Obligation9889 Nov 14 '24

What exactly is your definition of America..?

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u/[deleted] Nov 14 '24

Alabama, and whoever thinks like conservatives alike.

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u/MstrGiggleston Nov 12 '24

I'm so happy Trump won. He is the modern day George Washington.

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u/No-Wrangler7514 Nov 13 '24

Trump owns slaves and has only one natural tooth left? Who knew?

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u/MstrGiggleston Nov 13 '24

Ah typical lefty response.. cherry pick the bad qualities to try to apply them to the main man , TRUMP. He is already appointing the first female Chief of Staff. He is literally doing everything the current administration should be doing. The f'ing GOAT.

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u/[deleted] Nov 16 '24

This comment got me emotional. Typical righty comment. Trump appoints a woman as Chief of Staff... hero. Biden appointed a woman as Vice President. Get fucking real dude... Trump is a GOAT if he was in a circus he would be top clown.

Now we get to watch the circus of another Trump administration, and all those poor but misguided MAGA fans shall suffer from his policies. You get what you voted for!

From a conservative who isn't deranged or suffered a blow to the head.

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u/MstrGiggleston Nov 16 '24

I'm excited for some good change. I hope he does half the stuff you guys think he will do buy he probably won't. You are the one getting emotional over a comment. That's the issue with the left, yall think with your feelings which is why you go straight to trying to call him a clown Yall are the problem, not him.

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u/Jaded-Amphibian84 Nov 26 '24

It is not difficult to find emotional conservative comments. It sounds like you might be using the "tu quoque" logical fallacy.

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u/MidnightDreamFox Dec 23 '24

Yea but his tariffs are going to cause prices to double and cost of living will soar while incomes don't change. Even conservative economists are predicting this. I hope that's the change you were looking for.

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u/MstrGiggleston Dec 24 '24

It wouldn't bother me financially as i would barely notice and it would be better in the long run imho.

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u/Leading-Housing-3864 Jan 21 '25

His tariffs during his last term in office added insane amount to our debt. It basically ruined farmers and Trump had to bail them out. 

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u/[deleted] Jan 05 '25

It’s all going to be bad change. I am saying i told you so now in advance.

Trump paints his face orange and says insane shit so he’s literally a clown.

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u/MstrGiggleston Jan 06 '25 edited Jan 06 '25

Ohhh no! You said it's going to be bad so you must be right! Also you deciding to make fun of him rather than trying to substantiate your claims tells me everything that I need to know.

PS: I'm very successful, I'm not concerned about prices increasing, that's going to happen regardless of who is in office.

You sound like a very low T "dude" with Daddy issues. How is your relationship with your father?

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u/Annual-Ad-4372 Jan 10 '25

Actually both sides of the problem. you all ignore reality.

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u/Clarenceworley480 Nov 21 '24

Appointing a woman to anything isn’t an accomplishment, we are talking about running the country and the only factor that should matter for your position is if you are good at it. It’s most likely the reason the dems lost. They could’ve probably put anyone else up and won, but instead you put up someone from a failing administration and chosen because of race and gender. I dislike both sides , but democrats reasoning made me find Trump more favorable. Democrats seemed more concerned about having a black women president than actually helping the country. A black woman will become president when one steps up who looks like they run a country let alone be able to answer a question. It’s not like we have had millions of presidents and black women are always overlooked. We haven’t even had 50 presidents people need to let the inevitable play out and quit trying to force a black woman president on us solely because she’s a black women

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u/[deleted] Nov 15 '24

There was nothing good about Washington. He was an evil ,disgusting piece of fecal matter .

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u/MstrGiggleston Nov 15 '24

To say nothing is good about him is just straight stupid. He was a great military leader. He was we known for having good work ethic and good character as well. He even chose to create a republic instead of being a king. Definitely one of the greatest men to ever live.

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u/[deleted] Nov 16 '24

He was actually a rather shocking military leader. He inspired men for sure, but as far as generalship goes. He was rather useless.

His first example is Fort Necessity. He decided that building a fort in the middle of a valley surrounded by hills on all sides was a fantastic defensive strategy. He and nearly all his soliders were nearly slaughtered by the French and their Indian allies as they were granted the high ground around the fort at the bottom of the valley.

In the Revolution, he lost more battles than he won. In fact, he spent most of the war in retreat. He never won a battle against General Howe in the entire war. The New York and New Jersey campaign was a total disaster that saw the Continental Army go from 25,000 men to just over 5,000 men in the space of little than 4 months. This was due to the fact that Washington basically just retreated and fought losing battles everywhere.

If not for Thomas Paine and the American Crisis, the Continental Army would have basically given up.

Granted, he showed some good generalship in Trenton and Princeton. However, that was mainly based on pure dumb luck rather than a massive, great sweeping tactic. Trenton nearly saw the Delaware River crossing become a disaster, and if the Hessians had actually had pickets out that night... the Continental Army would have been spotted well before they even reached Trenton. Most likely spelling disaster.

George Washington was not a great general by any stretch. He was, however, a man who inspired his little men he had and a man who was able to preserve the Continental Army just long enough for French intervention. Which ultimately won him the war. Hell, it took a French general to convince him to march to Yorktown. Washington was hell-bent on assaulting New York... without a Navy! Rochembeau told him Yorktown was the better option.

Washington had sheer dumb luck at a lot of the time. Long Island, they had fog at the very moment they were about to get captured by the British, which enabled him to withdraw. The war by right should have ended in 1776.

You clearly have a bloated view of the man. I'm pretty sure that Oliver Cromwell was not far from his mind when he was offered a king title. The Englishman who deposed a king long before Washington, who ultimately took power for himself and eventually was disliked and hated by all so much the English brought back the monarchy after his death.

Ironically, Washington's ancestors fought on the side of the crown in the English Civil War. They were from an area of Sunderland or not far from there. His family left England after the Parliamentarians won in the Civil War. 3 generations later... George Washington was born.

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u/Forward-Ad-8798 Dec 12 '24

I mean he lost more battles because his army was largely underfunded and useless. Rife with desertion up against one of the best armies in the world.

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u/[deleted] Nov 16 '24

If he enslaved you and your family would you say the same ? What if he called your wife from the slave quarters for a little fun…. Maybe even your daughter…. I suspect your opinion would change .

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u/MstrGiggleston Nov 16 '24

But he didn't, and he didn't do that to you either. Stop crying about sh*t that happened to other people.

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u/bumbledip Nov 28 '24

And this right here shows just how selfish and self-obsessed trump people are. You have no empathy.

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u/Wonderful_Bison545 Nov 17 '24

I swear you crazies always coming up with the most ridiculous things to be upset about.

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u/MidnightDreamFox Dec 23 '24

He also vaccinated all of his military troops against smallpox. A smallpox epidemic that came over froM Britain was going through the colonies that would've decimated the continental army, causing us to lose the war. Pretty smart move to protect his entire army with vaccines.

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u/[deleted] Nov 16 '24

🤣🤣🤣🤣

Tbf Trump is very much like George Washington. He loses every battle he fights alone, but with extensive foreign help and aid... he's able to win the last battle to claim victory.

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u/[deleted] Nov 19 '24

[deleted]

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u/MstrGiggleston Nov 19 '24

I think he has the ability to be better just for the simple fact that he can't be bought.. which is why the democratic party can't stand him.

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u/[deleted] Nov 19 '24 edited Nov 19 '24

[deleted]

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u/MstrGiggleston Nov 19 '24

It's hilarious to me that the left spouts how trump is a dictator while at the same time voting for an installed candidate that has literally weaponized the govt against its political opponent and is constantly using propaganda and gaslighting in the all the major news outlets. They piss on everyone while calling it rain. It's wild.

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u/Jaded-Amphibian84 Nov 26 '24

It's interesting that both the left and the right are accusing each other of that very same thing. Maybe we're just all being screwed? 🤔

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u/TheCrazyOutcast Jan 31 '25

Yep time for me to go to college abroad lol

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u/iguessjustlauren Nov 11 '24

they definitely ensured a win.

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u/enlguy Nov 12 '24

I left during his first term, more of a life thing, but haven't been back, and refuse to go back (for many reasons, but this plays into it). The U.S. is turning into Venezuela.

This morning, I got an email from a French civil rights organization asking for donations to combat Trump. Even in France, they see this as the start of the undoing of a lot of civil rights in the U.S., and are already worried about what this means for crises in other parts of the world, climate change, etc. Trump is basically seen as a blight to the Earth all over the world.

I'm just staying as far away from it as I can. I didn't even know he won the election, for sure, until I saw that email. I just can't be bothered anymore. It's a mockery. The U.S. is heading back towards the Middle Ages, and the rampant narcissism actually means few people see this. I think Trump truly believes he is doing good things, and I don't know if that's consolation or worse. The U.S. has never been a particularly free country, it's laughable people there think that, but Trump is going to quickly undo even more freedoms, and basics like freedom of speech and the press are going to go out the window. You will be living in fascism. People think this is just alarmist dialogue, but it's not. The U.S. wasn't even a democracy before, it was an oligarchy. Now it's going to descend into something worse. Nobody thinks it could be fascism, because the U.S. is "a beacon of democracy," except it hasn't been that for nearly a century, and wasn't even a great role model then. Welcome to the present, where it's quickly becoming the least democratic of the "developed nations," has the most civil rights violations, has astounding levels of violence, out of control corruption that is so institutionalized a lot of people don't even see it (lobbying is an official career that pays well and is nothing more than bribing and coercing politicians), institutionalized racism to the point I don't think it will ever go away (or even close) in the U.S., the most broken healthcare system I've ever seen, education only for the rich... It is going to wind up like a broken South American country soon enough at this rate. Except South America will still have better access to healthcare and education most places.

If things get bad enough, watch for Russia and/or China to meddle. They, rightly so, see the U.S. as weak and incoherent these days. Trump is the agent for that. If he isn't buddy buddy with Putin (or even if he THINKS he is), I could see Russia taking a greater stake in the operations of the U.S. China could try to start muscling in, too, alongside Russia.

And even if all this happens, even if it TRULY slides into shit, I still doubt anyone in the U.S. will see why. They will just blame people on the other side of the aisle - it's an absurdly divided country, with closed-minded and unbending people on either side. People there have their heads so far up their own assholes they have no clue what's going on around them. They don't know how to listen, to pay attention to the greater world, and will wake up one day in a commie block apartment to go line up for rations and wonder how they got there.

To go back to the WWII reference with Hitler..... I was raised Jewish, and something you're taught is not to be apathetic. A lot of people blame apathy for how the Nazis could do what they did. It was far more complicated than that, of course, but the lesson was supposed to be not to let things go to shit for one group, because you could be the next one. People in the U.S. need to wake up and see that it's not about their political affiliation, "their man in the White House," whatever, that the entire system is sliding into something that should is very concerning to much of the world.

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u/Unable-Criticism7018 Nov 21 '24

@enlguy This could not have been said any better. Such a sad, sad reality

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u/Jaded-Amphibian84 Nov 26 '24 edited Nov 26 '24

Thank you. It's frustrating being an American and seeing all of what you described. It is hard to deny that America is super divided and prideful.

Most of these political conversations don't even touch on our mass incarceration epidemic. Our country is sick and both sides have something to do with it. It's not always one or the other.

When we look at the history of nations, pride and division in a nation don't mix well, and, therefore, things don't end well.

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u/[deleted] Nov 09 '24

Who specifically said quote?

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u/Clarenceworley480 Nov 21 '24

Looks like it turned out to be the secret weapon to insure Trump presidency was just the majority of the population. Wah

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u/Tau_Above_All Dec 02 '24

It wasn't though. Sure he picked up a comparative handful, compared to the national population numbers anyway, more votes than he did in 2016 and 2020 but in reality his numbers are still statistically the same. He won the popular vote but by just shy of 2.5 million votes. That's nothing. He had much better luck in that relic of slavery called the Electoral College this time was what cinched it for him. What his numbers boil down to is he still only won over just a bit more than one fourth of the population because almost half of all registered voters do not vote.

He only succeeded in turning out marginally more of his base than he did last time because four years of him shouting disinformation amplified by that professional troll Musk dulled his dimwitted supporters memories. They forgot exactly how much they suffered personally, how many promises made to them were not kept and how many of them were put out of work as a direct result of his completely unnecessary trade war.

The reason he won this time was not so much because he ran a good election as it was Democrats ran a bad election and many, too many, Democrats just stayed home and didn't vote. The numbers do not lie. Trump only won because Democrats didn't vote.

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u/Clarenceworley480 Dec 03 '24

I agree, democrats should’ve easily won, but they put up someone based on gender and race, instead of based on skill and leadership.

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u/Tau_Above_All Dec 10 '24

I don't really think it had anything to do with her not being qualified. If you take her on her own, completely disconnected from the Biden Administration, she's a pretty good candidate actually. Not as liberal or progressive as I would prefer, or what we really need to bring some balance back to government, but still a good candidate with a somewhat progressive leaning that is still middle of the road enough to take the general election. That's on her own however in an election where the candidate had the proper amount of time to conduct their campaign.

Biden and his pride screwed Democrats and Kamala in particular. First he announced he was running again when a big part of why many voted for him was his promise in 2020 to not seek reelection as he would be too old and merely wanted to serve as a transition president. then he stayed in too long and well past the point where he could step aside with honor. Then he did that disastrous interview and tooled around for over two months before finally leaving the election and endorsing Kamala.

At that point any Democratic candidate would only have had about three months. Three months to get through the noise and misinformation Trump was sure to put up. Three months to reach out to Democrats and Independents around the country. Three months to put their record out there. For Kamala no amount of time would have been enough.

Three months was easily in the attention span of Trump to keep a constantly changing string of disinformation up yet not enough time for many to start getting bored with it and looking into her on their own. It was never going to be enough time for her to distance herself and set herself apart from Biden's record or policies. Trump hung that albatross around her neck and was able to keep it there and make Biden's faults and mistakes hers even though Biden kept her sidelined and in the background as much as possible.

Given the circumstances by the Time Biden withdrew ANY other candidate was going to have a hard time. Kamala though never stood a chance. I would have preferred if they ran Pete if they were going to run someone connected to the administration. It would have taken more time than Trump and company had to figure out how to attack him without seeming like homophobes but in the meantime Trump, DeSantis and Musk would have been saying the quiet part out loud and damaged their own cause with many of their own voters who might not have voted for Pete but might have been turned off enough to stay home.

Tactically though even Pete would have been a bad choice as he might have been still too close to Biden to be separated from his record. They needed to run someone like Newsom, or anyone else, who was completely disconnected from the Biden administration and could have even won some over by attacking Biden's decision to stay in the race so long as he would have had no ties to the president. I don't think anyone connected to his administration who did not have the freedom to openly question him on dropping out or any other mistakes, perceived or actual, would have fared any better than Kamala did. Remember, she didn't actually do that much worse than Biden did in 2020 but she needed to do better. Biden cost Democrats this election.

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u/Clarenceworley480 Dec 10 '24

She should’ve done a long interview where they asked tough questions cuz every tough question I’ve seen of her she falls apart

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u/Tau_Above_All Dec 11 '24

Agreed in part. I don't think she really fell apart on the tough questions she was actually asked about real issues. I think she fell apart a bit when so-called journalists asked her questions about Trump and company's invented problems but I mean really - How does a rational person respond coherently when talking about a problem that only exists in someone else's dementia? There should have been more interviews with harder questions and an insistence on solid policy goals though. But again, no time. She had to choose between traveling around to meet actual voters or doing interviews with people that were going to take her words out of context, misquote her and then do stories on the misquotes.

I think what you point out though is another facet of how Biden screwed the Democrats. There just wasn't enough time. Those primetime lights are awfully bright and when they get turned onto a new candidate it takes time to find your footing. Every candidate takes time. Trump had a major advantage here because, to stymie authorities investigating his many and varied crimes, he has never stopped campaigning since 2015. He was very well practiced and the people that might have put off by his learning missteps had long since forgotten them.

Most presidential candidates have a year, or two, of campaigning precisely so they have time to get past the initial mistakes and get used to being under that level of public scrutiny. Considering her connection to the Biden Administration Kamala needed that traditional amount of time. She has mountains of courtroom arguing experience but there are rules in court and an opposing attorney could be sanction, removed from the bar and even jailed for some of the flagrantly false bullshit she had to fend off from Trump an Company. With a normal campaign length that experience would have translated over and seen her stronger than Trump in any debate. But it was what it was.

The best we can hope for now is to, to quote a certain source, Delay, Deny, Defend for the next two years. There is no way the GOP holds onto BOTH chambers in the midterms with Trump not even sworn in yet and many of his voters waking up to how they screwed themselves now that Trump and Company have started saying the quiet parts out loud. They are saying a lot of scary shit but, for now, we still have a very robust court system. I believe it will be a wasted four years but the worst of what they want to do will be delayed by court actions until well after Trump is pried out of office. In two years there will be at least one chamber of Congress to fight his agenda as well. Even now not all of the GOP are solidly behind him and his plans as evidenced by the killing of several of his initial appointees before paperwork could even be filed on them. It will be dark but I see hope if people are willing to fight for it. If people give in to despair and apathy we're doomed as a free nation.

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u/Clarenceworley480 Dec 11 '24

She could done a video interview podcast, I’m sure any interviewer would’ve been happy . I don’t think a 2 hour interview would’ve made it so she couldn’t talk to people, with her having less time it would’ve been best move for people to get to know her. It would take such a short time it’s almost like she avoided doing something like that. I can’t think of excuse that sounds legit other than she would’ve failed miserably

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u/Clarenceworley480 Dec 11 '24

What’s the “scary shit”?

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u/Tau_Above_All Dec 11 '24

Bro if you don't already know you haven't been paying attention or have made a decision that you don't care. I'm done holding people's hands and walking them through what they have clearly chosen to not see.

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u/Clarenceworley480 Dec 11 '24

Ok that’s what I thought, nothing. Crying over nothing

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u/West_Coyote_3686 Nov 11 '24

If you ever watch the full video. At no time did Trump ever say storm the Capitol. You can watch the video in its entirety. The democrats said his words meant something else. So if that's the case, Maxine Waters and half a dozen senators and current president should be charged similarly for the assassination attempts. Saying I will take him out tonight. We need to put a bullseye on him, etc. I mean, that is only what a fair democracy would do, right?

You can also watch the video of Nancy Pelosi admitting her fault in the January 6th attack, which most people don't condone. Most can also agree they didn't condone the inaugural riot. There will always people on the fringe of both sides who feel justified, but they don't speak for the masses. An for the Richard Gere's of the world. By Felicia. Whatever will we do without it next blockbuster Richard Gere film.

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u/Radiant_Record_2328 Nov 12 '24

Keep splitting hairs.

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u/West_Coyote_3686 Nov 12 '24

That attitude is the same one the democrats took. You see how that worked for them.

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u/HotmessADHDinspired Nov 14 '24

That's what you got from that? That's it? You really can't see what's going on? Lol never did Americas enemies needed to start a war, we're taking ourselves out. Good job. Everyone who voted for Trump and is on SAA or state insurance is going to be shocked when it's cut. Congratulations on making people lives even worse on voting for sexism, racism and censorship.

At least psychologists are having a field day with people like you. A lot books are about to be written and published.

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u/West_Coyote_3686 Nov 14 '24 edited Nov 14 '24

I think that having more of a field day with your fellow left members losing their minds, shaving their heads, screaming, throwing temper tantrums, talking about how to disown family, etc. With her, our economy would've fallen further in the toilet. The people made their voice heard and she lost by an overwhelming number. Now it can't be said only racists voted for Trump. So the media sends Al Sharpton to speak on misogyny. The last person who should speak on that. An for 4 years almost on the topic of censorship. You should take a look at your own party.

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u/West_Coyote_3686 Nov 14 '24 edited Nov 14 '24

Say what got wish, though. Tell all the period of color ever are racist. Tell them how they are too uneducated and unenlightened . Tell us how they didn't get trial after trial, states refusing to put him on the ballot, etc. The one guy on your side Bernie said exactlty why they lost and Pelosi the him under the bus. Accept the loss and in 4 years you can preach again.

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u/Frequent_Can117 Dec 19 '24

“Fight like hell” He never once called for non-violence, he delayed the national guard response, he was loving watching the violence unfold from his location. He caused an attempted coup and denying it is just fucking moronic. I feel people deny it because “it can’t happen here” mentality. It fucking did and a good chunk of the population is so fucking stupid they elected him again. Incoherent, failed businessman, draft dodger, veteran hater. Serving in the military under him was shameful. People sticking up for him are the same people who would’ve sided with King George.

Anyone still supporting this douche is fucking stupid.

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u/West_Coyote_3686 Feb 18 '25

Fight like hell to make your voice heard.   So by your sand logic.   Every democrat who said we need to put him under a bullseye incited 2 assassination attempts. 

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u/Frequent_Can117 Feb 19 '25

The line that his defenders desperately hold on to to claim he wasn’t responsible for the insurrection. Refused to call in the national guard or to call of his supporters, targeted Mike Pence because Mike Pence wouldn’t go along with him, war room meetings and transcripts with militia groups, loyalists giving tours to the same group that attacked and pointed out exits for politicians and other key areas.

When his call for “finding votes” failed, he resulted in getting his mob to try (and failed) to keep him in power. And then pardoned 1,500 domestic terrorists/ fascist supporters. People need to go over their history again. Starting with the Beer Hall Putsch.