Steve Bannon has once again ignited a fire that was long considered extinguished. In an interview, he said with the composure of a man who loves chaos: \u201cTrump is gonna get a third term. People ought to get accommodated with that.\u201d For American democracy, this sentence is more than a provocation. It is a test balloon - calculated, ideological, strategic. Bannon, once the architect of the Trump movement, speaks of a \u201cplan\u201d that is supposed to bring Donald Trump back to the White House in 2028. This is not a mere fantasy but part of a narrative that has been circulating in Bannon\u2019s networks for months: the myth of inevitability. Trump, so the narrative goes, stands above institutions, above the Constitution, above time. The idea of a third term is legally impossible - the 22nd Amendment explicitly prohibits a president from being elected more than twice - but for Bannon, that is just a \u201ctechnical detail.\u201d \u201cThere are many alternatives,\u201d he said. \u201cAt the appropriate time, we\u2019ll lay out what the plan is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is the sound of disinformation disguised as rhetoric of destiny. That Trump himself has made similar suggestions - he spoke in the spring of \u201cmethods\u201d and \u201cconstitutional flexibility\u201d - amplifies the echo. The Washington Post reported at the time that advisers in the West Wing had tried to dissuade him from using such phrases. But the seed was sown: in Bannon\u2019s circles, the notion of Trump\u2019s return after 2028 has long been seen as a possible scenario, even if it would have nothing to do with the rule of law anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Legally, the matter is clear. The U.S. Constitution leaves no room for interpretation here. A circumvention would only be conceivable through a constitutional amendment - or through a construct that pushes the limits of legality: for example, if an ally formally becomes president and Trump \u201cgoverns\u201d as an \u201cadvisor\u201d or \u201cco-president.\u201d Scenarios quietly floated in Bannon\u2019s environment but publicly dismissed as hypothetical thought experiments. Meanwhile, the political context is explosive. Just last week, according to several sources familiar with the matter, Bannon is said to have received a \u201cdressing down\u201d in the Oval Office. Trump was annoyed - not about the statement on the third term but about Bannon\u2019s growing closeness to Laura Loomer, an ultra-right activist who recently openly criticized parts of the Trump agenda. Loomer, who describes herself as a \u201cloyal opposition,\u201d symbolizes the new right that venerates Trump but despises his compromises. That Bannon publicly courted her was seen in the West Wing as a transgression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n