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?

  • 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.