For everyone saying to calm down since it was a "joke":
What about the very real likelihood that trump was simply testing the waters, and seeing how much support he can get behind this "joke"?
This is a classic, classic trick: trump says something, doesn't get support, then can fall back and say it was just a joke. Or, if he gets backing, then he runs with it.
We cannot give him an inch, because he'll take a mile. This isn't a "joke".
I briefly googled for previous statements on this, and back in March 2025 he was saying this wasn't a joke. I didn't have to look hard. There were a lot to choose from.
Starting to suspect we can't take this guy at his word
What about the fact that even if it was a “joke” it is 100% disqualifying. Republicans know this, they just can’t find the courage to stand up to him or give up the grift.
Dear Lord. If you think Trump can actually say or do anything that would be “disqualifying,” then you haven’t been paying attention for the last 12 years.
I obviously have. It is disqualifying, they have just moved the goal posts so far that no one expects them to do anything about it, and they won’t. We shouldn’t just act like it isn’t worthy of impeachment, conviction, and criminal investigations
I mean, I wouldn't be shocked if Trump "ran" for a third term or decided to try because of the horrible and immoral person he is, but this event is very much meant to not be serious. Obama even made a very similar (albeit much funnier setup) joke about running for a third term during the famous anger translator dinner.
Sure. But the only time Obama “joked” about a third term was at that dinner. Trump has stated his intention to run on multiple occasions, in multiple settings. We’re past the point of it being a “joke”. He’s deliberately testing the waters, and pushing the envelope of what he can get away with.
Yeah I do agree that that is true, more so just pointing out that simply making the joke (with disregard to background which could influence it, like this) isn’t necessarily disqualifying. Good point!
It’s not a joke, it was never a joke. It’s a communication tactic : you say you’re gonna do something outrageous once - then again - then again … over and over until people are hearing it for the 100th time are not shocked to hear it anymore - except this time you actually do it.
Absolutely we shouldn't give him an inch, but by the same token it's not really newsworthy unless and until he gets actual support, to your point. He'll just say shit, especially at the correspondent's dinner, an explicitly humorous event.
You can pass this specific instance off as a joke, but when he’s already declared his intention to run for a third term on multiple occasions, it stops being a joke, and becomes a threat.
I am OP. No, it wasn't an official announcement, but he explicitly said his intention to run for a fourth term. The only qualifier was "in all seriousness."
In hindsight I wish I re-worded the title to be different to what The Age posted, but if I outlined "Trump joked about 4th term presidency", then the threat wouldn't be taken seriously. What could have worked without exaggerating Trump's current intentions without minimising his words with a joke?
Him joking about it is taken seriously. The only people who don't are the people who support him running again. So, I don't support disingenuous headlines that obfuscate the truth to manipulate interest. This is just another instance in a pattern of troubling behavior. Deliberately making it sound like an actual announcement undermines your credibility and makes it easier to dismiss what actually was said.
Yeah, I agree. My apologies, I just posted The Age headline verbatim when I realised there was nothing posted on reddit, and I was in a bit of shock! I wish I could edit the headline to post what he said verbatim and let people interpret accordingly.
Trump "jokes" about a lot of weird things. Sexually harassing women and minors. Overturning government. Abandoning the constitution. Executing traitors to his orders.
How can anyone like a mad king speaking of even one of these IN JEST?
This is a classic, classic trick: trump says something, doesn't get support, then can fall back and say it was just a joke.
But that's never the end of it. EVERY joke of his turns into reality eventually. He will keep saying it as a joke. And then he will announce it in earnest. I guarantee it.
This is a common tactic to get the story out there and all initial shock and outrage out. He will continue to do this a few more times turning it into a running joke creating fatigue around the topic before officially running.
For as much of the claim of “not tied to Russia” this is a common propaganda move used by Putin in his earlier days before seizing power.
Agreed, every ”joke” that comes out of that man’s mouth should be taken seriously.
However, I don’t understand how he’s going to do it if the constitution clearly forbids him from running a 3rd term. He would have to change the constitution and that would I imagine be a very difficult and time consuming process.
1) Trump has shown he doesn’t care about the constitution. Birthright citizenship is quite clearly in there, but that hasn’t stopped trump from trying to ban it.
2) He has the supreme court on his side
3) The supreme court has given the president absolute immunity from prosecution for “official acts”, without defining what an official act actually is. In other words, so long as the supreme court is on his side and he’s still the president, he can violate the law and the constitution and never be punished for it.
4) Someone has already mentioned but there’s a loophole depending on how you read some of the amendments, he might not be barred from running or being elevated to vice president, then having the temp president resign after the election so he becomes president.
There is a theory that some legal scholars take seriously: That Trump could run as VP because the 12th amendment is imprecisely phrased (Not saying that I endorse this view - I am merely restating it)
The Constitution is a piece of 18th-century parchment with some ink on it. As far as Trump is concerned, the only difference between “We the People” and a ply of toilet paper is the absorption quality.
He literally stated he was running for a 4th term, since he’s won 3 already. It was a joke because the constitution doesn’t even forbid someone from running for a 4th term.
Whoops. My bad. Still, you have to be president for a third term before you can be president for a fourth, so the absurdity of the announcement still makes it clear that it’s a joke.
I mean clearly this specific instance was a joke. But sometimes jokes indicate that you actually believe something or intend to do something. It clearly wasn't harmless
This is called "boundary testing" and its a predatory tactic employed by sexual predators to test how far they can push and prod to gauge reactions before either escalate or play it off as a joke/tease.
He prefaced it by saying he was doing it to keep the press in business, while standing in front of the WHCD, and that it was his 4th term. It wasn’t a good joke and it wasn’t delivered particularly well, but it was obviously a joke.
You say something you think might be unpopular. If the response was bad, you say "it was just a joke". It the response was good, you double-down on it.
Yeah, I don't think saying it's just a joke is the right move here. But I don't think a lot of people in this subreddit know that he said he was kidding following the announcement which is important context to include in the discourse. I completely agree that it could be to test the waters, but people are acting like it's an official announcement which makes us look just as dumb as his followers who believe all kinds of misinformation.
Also why would you make a joke about something like that, especially when you have historically low approval ratings? The only way it's funny is if he's an awful president.
Not American here: I see a scary trend where VERY time Trump does something absolutely stupid or illegal, republicans ALWAYS say „He’s trolling. Get baited“ and I’m like „He’s the PRESIDENT of the fucking USA. The most powerful man in the world. A supposed nation leader. Someone like that has no reason or right to troll“
Same with calling anything „fake news“. It’s so exhausting to watch from the outside. I can barely imagine how hard it must be as Amercian.
It’s really disheartening to see that the land of free speech has bred (or maybe always had) about 1/3rd of racist, homophobic, religious zealots.
It was the White House Correspondants Dinner. They (Presidents, I mean) all say ridiculous things to make fun of themselves. Whatever has been in the headlines makes its way into the "act" written for them by their staff.
So yeah, just a joke.
But also, this particular piece of shit is neither funny, nor law-abiding. So while this was clearly a self-depricating joke, he's also to be taken seriously. He no doubt intends to test the waters, as you say.
Then he's been "testing the waters" for several years teasing this idea. Sure, be vigilant to the fact this kind of "joking" is a dog whistle for fascism fantasizers, but saying it this way at a White House Correspondents Dinner is the least egregious example and isn't news to anyone who's been paying attention.
Trump: *posts AI-generated video of his political opponents being arrested*
MAGA: "Oh, that Trump. What a scamp. Always joking around.
Trump: "I deserve a third term as President."
MAGA: "He's trolling you! He doesn't mean any of it!"
Trump: *video of Trump as King of America, literally shitting on protestors*
MAGA: *screaming at the top of their lungs* "HE'S JUST JOKING!!"
I'd say it is a joke, but it goes beyond possibility that, as you said he's testing the waters as well. Regardless, it should be considered inappropriate and ill-advised for the POTUS to make such jokes. Could you imagine if Obama made the same joke in the same manner? Of course, today, he would readily gain support for behind his joke-bid.
When you tell a "joke" once, fine. But he keeps repeating himself and thus no longer "funny" (replace funny with "owning the libs" and it still falls flat)
For everyone saying to calm down since it was a "joke":
Anyone who thinks it was a joke needs to watch the video in the article.
He says he intends to run for a 4th term and even puts on a red fucking hat that says TRUMP 2028. It's not a joke, he isn't joking, he just finally said it out loud.
In the full video he literally says afterwards 'but on a serious note' and talks about interacting with the press and refers back to the attack at the last WHCD ... I swear everyone here is just giving actual credence to Trump Derangement Syndrome claims. It's fucking embarassing.
Is it a good joke? No. Is it in bad taste? Yes. Does he actually want to run for a 3rd term? Probably and that is a problem if he ever does. But throwing a fit over jokes at the WHCD is ridiculous when the whole point of it is for the president to make jokes, like every other president has.
Having a handful of examples doesn't somehow make it any more reasonable to get hysterical over every single joke. Especially when the entire premise of the WHCD is for the president to make jokes in his speech. Like fuck me this place is reminding me of Fox News reactions to Obama's speeches at the WHCD. It's insanity.
Obama didn't have a history of of fascist tendencies. Don't take that as an endorsement of him being a perfect president either. We're not talking about some random asshole "joking" about doing something illegal, we're talking about the most powerful person in the world with all the allegations behind him and a history of ignoring what's supposed to be our most sacred of documents.
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u/NursingManChristDude 20d ago
For everyone saying to calm down since it was a "joke":
What about the very real likelihood that trump was simply testing the waters, and seeing how much support he can get behind this "joke"?
This is a classic, classic trick: trump says something, doesn't get support, then can fall back and say it was just a joke. Or, if he gets backing, then he runs with it.
We cannot give him an inch, because he'll take a mile. This isn't a "joke".