The 80-year-old was met with a smattering of applause, but even he did not seem excited by the moment.

Donald Trump has announced he will run for president in 2028 during a rambling speech to the Washington press corps.

Trump was speaking at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner when he appeared to make the announcement.

I won three times, now I’m gonna do it again,” he said, while putting on a cap that read “Trump 2028″.

“I’m gonna do it again. It should be easy.”

He went on to add that he won in 2020 but the election was rigged.

The 80-year-old was met with a smattering of applause, but even he did not seem excited by the moment.

Over the dead body of every patriot that stands for the Constitution, which reads in pertinent part:

No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice

-22nd Amendment

*Edit: Here’s the video of his announcement:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xyzWui2OX2I&t=2s&pp=2AECkAIB

He seem like he’s just joking to you?

  • breakfastmtn@lemmy.ca
    5211·
    8 days ago

    Okay, in context this headline and, really, the entire article seem pretty batshit. Trump did not announce a re-election bid. He told a string of awful scripted jokes that concluded with his dumb hat.

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/24/white-house-correspondents-dinner-trump-washington

    The speech included a handful of scripted jokes, one at the expense of Robert F Kennedy Jr, his health secretary who he quipped had personally run over the cow that became the evening’s “very delicious beef tenderloin”. Kennedy has championed the health benefits of beef tallow and animal protein.

    Trump also mocked the weight of Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor, and Jerry Nadler, the New York congressman, imagining the two wrestling over a piece of cheesecake. He ridiculed the appearance of his critics, including Bruce Springsteen who he said “looks like hell” and took aim at CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, who had been honored earlier for her White House coverage, saying she does not smile enough. Trump said he “hated” Adam Schiff, a Democratic California senator, and one of his most prominent congressional critics, while mocking the size of his head and neck.

    At one point, after a joke about term limits fell flat, Trump broke the fourth wall, asking the audience whether anyone understood “this whole freakin stupid speech that they wrote”.

    Trump ended his remarks with a joke that landed awkwardly, declaring that he planned to run and win a fourth election – a reference both to his false claim he won the 2020 election and to his repeated suggestion that he could seek a third term, despite the constitution’s two-term limit.

    • Sunflier@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      1001·
      9 days ago

      It’s always a “joke” until it isn’t. This is textbook gas lighting, and its a documented tactic from him and abusers like him.

      • breakfastmtn@lemmy.ca
        2610·
        9 days ago

        I think the reason no one’s reporting it is that it just isn’t a story. Trump makes comments like this all the time. There’s a difference between him making them and him actually announcing a re-election bid, which is the claim in the headline and article. Why would he even announce at the White House Correspondents Dinner while he’s bombing on stage? It just makes no sense. This reporting is bad.

          • breakfastmtn@lemmy.ca
            712·
            9 days ago

            Sure. I mean, in this context it’s probably more trolling than that. Why test the waters in a room full of people who despise you? But that’s completely immaterial to whether this story is true. If the headline was “Trump indicates for the nth time he really wants a third term”, that would at least be defensible. It says that he has announced a re-election bid. He has not.

            • Otter@lemmy.ca
              2·
              7 days ago

              To the people downvoting, the point is that the headline is misleading. No one is saying that Trump’s statements are ok

              For example, these previous incidents were not announcements either. It’s a BAD thing that he keeps making statements like this, jokes or not, but there’s still a difference between announcing a re-election bid and testing the water with “jokes”.

              https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-jokes-running-third-term-speech-house-republicans-rcna189530

              Jan 2025

              Trump jokes about running for a third term in speech to House Republicans

              It’s not the first time the president has publicly mused about seeking another four years in the White House, which would be barred by the Constitution.

              https://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-trump-has-said-about-pursuing-a-third-term/

              Dec 2025

              The comments came after he told NBC in March that he was “not joking” about seeking another term in office, after repeatedly publicly musing about the possibility. He also said at the time that despite the constitutional limitations, “there are methods which you could do it.”

              • breakfastmtn@lemmy.ca
                1·
                8 days ago

                About Trump? I doubt we have any disagreement about that. Not about who he is, what he is, what he wants, or how he behaves.

                The only question I’m really asking here is: why is the reporting from this single Australian news organization so wildly out of step with every other news organization on the planet?

          • breakfastmtn@lemmy.ca
            145·
            9 days ago

            I don’t disagree with you.

            But that has no bearing on whether this story is true. The claim is that he has “announced a re-election bid.” He hasn’t. And you know this – your recent comments are about him cloaking his intent or desire in feigned humour. I don’t disagree that he’s doing that. But, he does not need to do that if he has actually announced a re-election bid.

            • Sunflier@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
              92·
              9 days ago

              your recent comments are about him cloaking his intent or desire in feigned humour. I don’t disagree that he’s doing that. But, he does not need to do that if he has actually announced a re-election bid.

              I think he (on a subconscious level) knows this would basically sign his death warrant if he officially did it cold turkey like you say would show it was real. That’s probably why he did it like this: to ease his way into doing it.

              To use a relevant metaphor: raping children right away doesn’t work. They’re dry and scared. You gotta lube up first. This was him opening the lube bottle.

      • artyom@piefed.socialEnglish
        16·
        8 days ago

        Honestly it’s just textbook odd Trump ramblings. To say it’s gaslighting suggests some level of thought goes into what he says. He just not that smart.

        • justsomeguy@lemmy.world
          5·
          8 days ago

          He isn’t and neither is Bannon but their strategy has always been to desensitize the population.

          They both mentioned the third term multiple times but amongst a thousand other flood the zone bullshit it just went through. When they officially announce it nobody will be surprised and 24h later there’ll be some other scandal like trump shitting his pants again.

          It’s like a never ending stream of shit that keeps people in a state of outrage but never quite enough to not go to work and protest.

          None of it is particularly smart and it’s all extremely obvious but it works.

    • breakfastmtn@lemmy.ca
      82·
      9 days ago

      https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/25/us/politics/is-this-supposed-to-be-fun-trump-hurls-insults-at-correspondents-dinner.html

      There was little laughter in the room as the president’s speech took on a harder edge. Not many people chuckled when he compared the “really beat-up faces” of UFC fighters with those of Bette Midler, Jane Fonda and Bruce Springsteen.

      Mr. Trump seemed to realize he was losing the room. After a joke he told about the gerontocracy on Capitol Hill bombed, he said: “That was actually the only thing I thought was good in this whole fricking stupid speech. It was the only good one, and that went down with not exactly great laughter.”

      He threw his arms up in exasperation and people started to laugh again.

      As his speech reached its conclusion, he pulled out a hat and with a theatrical flourish plopped it on his head. It said, “Trump 2028.” Some clapped. Others laughed. Most of the reporters just stared straight ahead.