im 100% canadian, I dont live in the US and wondering about your system.
so as i understand your political system, a president can only hold office 2 terms. in Trumps case, he served once already, does that mean he can only serve one more, or is the clock reset and he gets a shot at 8 years?
By all means, I’d expect him to try, however, this is a constitutional amendment. The Supreme Court can’t take back an amendment the way they can strike down laws (I.e. by ruling it unconstitutional for whatever reason), because it IS constitutional by definition.
Thankfully, the Constitution is also very specific about what it takes to amend it further. 2/3 of both chambers of Congress, or 2/3 of state legislatures must vote to just propose an amendment, and then, to pass the amendment, they need 3/4 of the vote. Because the process is enumerated, there’s no legal ambiguity they can use to shape their ruling the way they want. To remove term limits, you must amend the Constitution. To amend the Constitution, you must meet these (intentionally) high thresholds. If A -> then B.
So, unless Trump is able to woo half of the sitting Democrats, as well as 100% of the Republicans, we’re safe from the system being used to guillotine itself (instead, the system will spend the next 4 years hitting itself in the face with a bat). Now, if Trump wants to seize power outside of the system, that’s a different ball game, and the relative friendliness of judges and Congress is a moot point.
Same happened with Hitler. We all know how that turned out. There are humorous similarities, like addiction to amphetamines and not drinking alcohol.
People who really want to do harm always find ways to bend the rules and get away with it.
Also, given how Trump’s been even more incoherent and irrational in this election compared to 2016’s, I’d be surprised if he’s still grounded enough in reality (or even alive) to seek more terms in 2028 - he’s already in his 80s and doesn’t live a healthy lifestyle; he has supercharged billionaire-only medicine, but there are only so many miracles that medicine can do.
I guess maybe the Republicans would try to keep him as a front for PR (like a puppet president) while hiding the fact that he’s senile from the population, and governing from the shadows. Which I suppose is barely better than direct rule from Trump himself.