May 12, 2025
By Jacob Collins Dodd
Staff Writer
Steve Bannon, a key strategist and ally to President Donald Trump, told cable news network NewsNation on March 19 that Trump “will run and win again” in 2028, asserting that America is going through a “1932-style realignment.”
On March 30, Trump said in a phone interview with NBC News’s Kristen Welker that he is “not joking” about a third term in the White House and that “there are methods by which you could do it.”
According to the 22nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, no president can be elected for more than two terms. This amendment was ratified in February 1951 in response to concerns about potential abuse of presidential power following Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s four-term presidency.
Trump’s admiration of the tactics used by history’s most notorious dictator is evident in his rhetoric.
The amendment, which ensures that no individual can dominate the executive branch indefinitely, is a safeguard that should not be eroded. Allowing a president to override such constitutional limits would not only shatter democratic precedent but edge the nation dangerously close to becoming a country resembling a monarchy or autocracy, in which power is hoarded rather than handed over.
On March 12, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an immigrant who fled El Salvador in 2011 to escape gang violence, was stopped by ICE agents in Maryland. They informed him that his immigration status had changed. On March 15, he was deported to a maximum-security prison with inhumane conditions in El Salvador.
ILLUSTRATION BY BETHANY RANERO
On April 10, the Supreme Court ruled 9-0 in an unsigned order that Garcia’s deportation was unlawful and demanded his return. However, Trump officials have repeatedly refused to return him. As of May 7, Abrego Garcia is being detained at a lower security facility in El Salvador.
Reinforcing his contempt for legal boundaries, Trump’s online store is now promoting a “Trump 2028” collection, including hats, shirts and can coolers—a blatant display of the president’s disregard for the Constitution.
Unchecked power was a key reason for the longevity of the Nazi Party’s regime, which lasted from 1933-1945.
During his rise to power, Adolf Hitler exploited Germany’s then-fragile democracy.
Following the death of President Hindenburg on August 2, 1934, Hitler became Germany’s self-proclaimed supreme leader. He used his authority to vilify minorities through disinformation, manufacture hate campaigns targeting his political opponents, implement laws favoring wealthy industrialists and billionaires and centralize power.
Ultimately, Nazi oppression, which resulted in the death of over 11 million individuals, prevailed due to propaganda.
Trump’s admiration of the tactics used by history’s most notorious dictator is evident in his rhetoric.
According to John Kelly, the president’s former chief-of-staff, Trump said during a private conversation at the White House that Hitler “did some good things” and wanted military generals like those of the Nazi Party.
Historically oppressed minorities were among those persecuted through Nazi laws. Paragraph 175 and Paragraph 183, which were statutes of Germany’s criminal code, discriminated against the lifestyles of homosexual and transgender individuals and strictly prohibited homosexual relations and public expression of gender. For example, if a biological male wanted to align their appearance with that of a biological female, such expression was illegal.
Similarly, during Trump’s presidential terms, his administration launched a sustained, years-long effort to discriminate against and dehumanize LGBTQ+ individuals, restricting bathroom access and banning gender-affirming care for transgender people.
With each passing day, the echoes of authoritarianism grow louder, and the threat of unchecked power inches closer. The decisions the American people make today about whether to stand up for democracy amid a constitutional crisis will determine the fate of America.
