Trump Says He Would 'Love To' Run Again in 2028

0:00There's a special magic to Illinois, and it all starts with the people. Hi, I'm Katie Sheehan, host of Enjoy Illinois Let's Go, a brand new podcast that brings you the stories, places, and personalities that define the land of Lincoln. Join me this season as I sit down with comedian Andy Richter, chef Gail Gand, and tastemakers from around the state. Find us on your favorite podcast platforms. Are you ready to enjoy Illinois? Let's go. Avoiding your unfinished home projects because you're not sure where to start? Thumbtack knows homes, so you don't have to. Don't know the difference between matte paint finish and satin?

0:38Or what that clunking sound from your dryer is? With Thumbtack, you don't have to be a home pro. You just have to hire one. You can hire top-rated pros, see price estimates, and read reviews all on the app. Download today. Welcome to The Beat. I'm Jason Johnson, and for Ari Melbert. Donald Trump sparking backlash today for shocking, to some, new comments about a potential third term, telling reporters on Air Force One he would, quote, love to seek one. I would love to do it. I have my best numbers ever. It's very terrible. I have my best numbers. If you read it, am I not ruling it out? You'll have to tell me.

1:20All I can tell you is that we have a great group of people here. Fact check, the Constitution bars presidents in the United States from serving more than two terms, which would make a third term for Trump illegal. No questions asked. This on the heels of Trump ally Steve Bannon, suggesting they have a plan or concepts of a plan to make a third term happen. Bannon was rebuked for those comments in recent days. It's not going to happen. It isn't something to be taken seriously. Damn if he isn't a dictator. There's certain people in Trump's orbit who, when they tell you what they're going to do, I really listen.

1:57And I would put Steve Bannon at the top of this list. He's trolling his opponents. I'm long on the record of opposing violating the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution. That is not going to happen. Our job right now is to make the point to bring in the people so they vote like they've never voted before. Meanwhile, Trump is still griping about the last election he lost over the weekend, prompting his Justice Department to investigate the fair 2020 election with, quote, gusto, calling for an end to mail-in and early voting. This, as the DOJ has announced they are planning to send election monitors to polling sites in Democratic states during Election Day voting next week, following requests from Republican lawmakers.

2:40A move that Democratic lawmakers were concerned about as the Trump administration has been infiltrating cities. Federal troops patrolling streets, sparking concerns of executive overreach, states are now fighting back in court. These are authoritarian tactics meant to intimidate. Political reporting in this year's rule of law ranking from the World Justice Project, the United States has fallen due to a, quote, weakening of checks and balances on the executive branch and a lack of protection for fundamental rights. We're going to be now to discuss is Maya Wiley, former Southern District of New York civil prosecutor and president and CEO for the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.

3:22And Dr. Christina Greer, associate professor of political science at Fordham University. Dr. Greer, I will start with you. That video of Trump saying he wants to run for a third term. I wanted us to sort of zero in on Marco Rubio's face and then just play the Curb Your Enthusiasm music because he seemed just offended and disturbed at this notion that the president is saying. Do you think there's any appetite amongst the Republican Party, Senate, House governors to actually stand up for Trump if he said, I'm going to run for a third term? Well, Jason, I wish we could say that Republicans would ever stand up to Trump.

3:59But what we've seen time and time again, whether it's January 6th, whether it's a government shutdown, whether it's erratic behavior, whether it's lies about, you know, other countries or tariff policies that are hurting their own constituencies. They say, well, you know, I think that's an overreach. And then immediately we'll backtrack. So Republicans know good and well that the 22nd Amendment stands and this president cannot, should not and shan't run for a third term. They say it now. Oh, you know, he's blustering. He might be trolling his opponents. There's no way the president's thinking of it.

4:30And if by some chance the president decides that he's going to run for a third term, I think we'll see Republicans refuse to stand up to him. I think they won't challenge him at a primary. I think they'll wring their hands and say, well, you know, the Democrats deserve this and they brought it among themselves. We've seen consistent 180s from this Republican Party. And they're not good faith actors because they're so desperately afraid of this president and afraid of getting on his bad side. For whatever reason, they're abdicating their own duties, whether it's in Congress, whether it's in his cabinet, whether it's in the judiciary, in ways that we have not seen, I don't think, ever in modern history.

5:07I want to play you this soundbite from Governor J.B. Pritzker as he is talking about what this president might do in upcoming elections. Get your thoughts on the other side. I think it's not very far away from him offering and providing military to protect the polling places across America, but particularly in blue states and blue cities, with the idea that they could confiscate the ballot boxes if they think there is fraud in the election. And my, I'm always quick to say I'm not a lawyer. I don't play one on TV. There's a difference between sending in election monitors to see if things are fair.

5:52Would Trump's DOJ have the power to just take ballots? Can they take ballots? Can they take voting machines? And if they could attempt to take ballots or voting machines, what could states do to stop them? Well, let's just start with whether they have the power. That's not the question, because the question is no. I mean, this is an administration that is not administering. It is just abusing power, taking powers it does not have, acting as if it's legitimate. And so I just want to just say very loudly and clearly that sadly, we have seen this administration do things it does not have the power to do all the time.

6:33I mean, we even have courts saying they have violated the Posse Comitatus Act, the act that says, no, you can't just send in the U.S. military and have it do local law enforcement. And that's what we're seeing. We still have a constitution that says you can't racially profile, except we know and have ICE agents clearly racially profiling, saying you don't look American, you don't speak English or your English isn't your first language, therefore you must not be a citizen. And none of that is power that the federal government has. So going back to Dr. Greer's point, it's exactly right. It's like, what do politicians in office allow them to do, particularly in the Republican Party?

7:15I say that because, I mean, of course, of course, attorneys general can run to court and say this is an administration that's violating the Constitution, violating the law. This is we live in a country where these powers of operating elections are the state's power. Interesting that we are three African-Americans talking about states' rights right now, but that's what it is. So very odd to actually have this conversation about the folks who are supposed to be about states' rights, clearly violating them all the time when it is the legitimate power of a state. So really, it comes down to this, not whether or not there are ways to go to court to challenge it.

8:01It is all the ways in which we have to, as an American people who say that we care about the Constitution and that we care about the way that we have a division of powers to balance power, to say, no, you don't get to come and take people's votes away from them just because you decide in states where you don't think you're going to win them. that those votes shouldn't be kept. It's interesting, Maya, when you talk about three African-Americans on camera talking about states' rights, it's like the enemy of my ancestors is suddenly my friend. That's the funny way that history operates. Taking it more locally, Dr.

8:38Greer, it's very interesting to me. We're talking about what can state officials do? What should they do? How can they operate? There is a very good chance, I'm not a New York voter, but there seems a very good chance that Mamdani will be elected as the new mayor of New York City. That is something that this administration has repeatedly tried to fight against, has attacked, has critiqued. What are the kinds of things that you think members of Congress and elected officials in the state of New York or the city of New York should do to, say, protect that city? Because it's not crazy to envision that this administration might try to send troops in during Election Day or even send troops in afterwards because they don't like who the city chooses.

9:18Right. And the president has already promised that he would penalize New York City if Mom Donnie is elected. Our election is November 4th. And if he is successful in becoming the 111th mayor of New York City and sworn in on New Year's Day, which is the beauty of New York City. And that's when we swear in our mayors. Many Democratic New Yorkers know that there's it's not beyond Donald Trump to try and just penalize the city. There are some stopgaps. I mean, let's be clear. We are the economic engine of the country. And so I do think that Wall Street will have something to say to Donald Trump. We already saw in San Francisco he backpedaled and said, oh, some friends called and said I shouldn't do it.

9:58So, you know, Wall Street doesn't want or need this city to be under a police state. Now, that's not to say that ICE hasn't already started harassing residents of New York City, citizens and non-citizens. We know that this president will do what he can to try and divide this city. But actually, you know, Donald Trump has overplayed his hand several times. And what will be interesting to see is, you know, Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic minority leader from Brooklyn, just tepidly endorsed Mamdani. The two U.S. senators, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, and we know Chuck Schumer is the minority leader in the Senate.

10:32They have yet to endorse the Democratic nominee, Huzan Mamdani. So this will be a larger Democratic conversation because Zahra Mamdani has awakened something in the Democrats, something that Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer have not been able to do. Many members of Congress have not been able to do. And he's actually pulling people to the table. So it would behoove them to actually think about not just the policy positions, but how he's able to build coalitions across working class New Yorkers and then possibly working class Americans so we can actually get people out to the polls and want to vote for the Democratic Party in 2026, even with all the shenanigans that we know Donald Trump and the Republican Party will pull.

11:12It's very hard to mount a resistance to authoritarianism when you don't want to listen to who the people want to elect. Maya Wiley and Dr. Christina Greer, thank you so much for starting us off on the show tonight. Thanks, Jesus. Coming up, new reporting from The Washington Post reveals turmoil inside the DOJ as Jack Smith is preparing to charge Trump. And still ahead, why some Democratic lawmakers are calling Trump strikes on alleged drug votes, quote, murder. But first, new details on how Trump fast-tracked his demolition of the People's House. All that and more when we're back in just 90 seconds on The Beat.

11:52There's a special magic to Illinois, and it all starts with the people. Hi, I'm Katie Sheehan, host of Enjoy Illinois Let's Go, a brand new podcast that brings you the stories, places, and personalities that define the land of Lincoln. Join me this season as I sit down with comedian Andy Richter, chef Gail Gand, and tastemakers from around the state. Find us on your favorite podcast platforms. Are you ready to enjoy Illinois? Let's go. This message comes from DSW, with their semi-annual sales starting now and featuring lots of deals. At Designer Shoe Warehouse, they'll give you something to brag about, like 40 % off clearance in all DSW stores or an extra 10 % off clearance at DSW.com.

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13:05Tonight, new details on Trump's brazen desecration of the People's House, the White House. The Wall Street Journal reporting that he fast-tracked the demolition of the East Wing by firing three Biden-appointed members of a 12-person planning committee. Quote, installing his own panel of loyalists, including senior White House officials, giving Republicans control of a little known body with outsized influence over the White House complex. Now, that happened way back in July, around the time Trump falsely promised that the historic East Wing wouldn't come down. with the current building i won't be it'll be uh near it but not touching it and pays total respect to the existing building which i'm the biggest fan of it's my favorite it's my favorite place i love it we determined that uh after really a tremendous amount of study with some of the best architects in the world we determined that really knocking it down trying to use a little section you know the East Wing was not much.

14:07In order to do it properly, we had to take down the existing structure. Trump's$300 million construction project has become his obsession. Journal reporting, quote, he is involved with every aspect of planning. Companies have brought product samples to the Oval Office for Trump to review, and he has kept materials in the dining room off the Oval as he weighs design choices. It's clear Trump sees the White House as his personal property and not the people's house that we pay for with our taxes. Democrats have been slamming Trump for this over the weekend. They're literally not just taking a wrecking ball to the White House.

14:50They're taking a wrecking ball to our very values. That house doesn't belong to him, New York. It belongs to us. It belongs to the people of this country. What the oligarchs fear, what they fear is that people will start understanding that this country belongs to us, not them. Trump's authoritarianism goes hand in hand with greed and selling the U.S. presidency to the highest bidder. This weekend, hosting the ruler of Qatar on Air Force One, a man who gifted Trump that controversial new plane, as Trump commits to building a$5.5 billion golf course in Qatar. This just days after Trump accepted a legally dubious$130 million gift from a reclusive American billionaire and Trump backer.

15:45Trump claims this money will be used to pay troops during his government shutdown. But as the New York Times points out, it would only come out to about$100 per service member. Joining me now is Ambassador Norm Eisen, co-founder of The Contrarian on Substack. He was the top ethics lawyer for Barack Obama, founder and executive chair of Democracy Defenders Fund, and also co-founded CREW, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Norm, thank you so much for joining us this evening. I want to start with this$130 million to the military. When I first heard that story, first off, it seemed so bizarre to me because it's not a private army.

16:24I don't ever remember seeing service members out washing cars in the driveway to raise funds. So I don't know how someone can give that kind of money. Don't just tell us the ethical implications of this, but how is this money going to be used? Can it just be thrown in with our tax money? Like, what is the background of this and how could it actually be distributed? Jason, I never would have allowed a private individual to pay the salaries of military members because whenever people write checks, large ones, like for$130 million, that comes with strings attached. And Donald Trump has put the government up for sale to the high bidder.

17:10And that idea, another reason I wouldn't have allowed it when I was giving ethics advice in the White House, was because the law has standards that are breached by this payment. If the military cannot be paid by Congress, you can't do an end around, and the law says so. No end arounds to have a private individual pay. Moreover, the Pentagon is using its gift authority, but you can only use the statutory gift authority for proper purposes. Like with that gold-plated jet where we at Democracy Defenders Fund objected and we filed a complaint with the Office of Inspector General, this huge payment is not in America's best interest.

17:59Besides which, it's not enough to pay the service members. That's what sort of hit me about this. And I want to show you this list right now. Bernie Sanders put up a tweet recently on corporate tax breaks and the ballroom donations. So we're already talking about the fact that some random person, again, who we don't necessarily know because it's a reclusive person, gave one hundred thirty million dollars to the military. Now we see that Trump's big, beautiful bill gave to Google, gave Amazon a$16 billion tax break, Microsoft, Facebook. And lo and behold, now all of these corporations have given him money for this$300 million addition to the ballroom.

18:36What is going to be our obligation or how can we track these companies going forward? Because they got a tax break. They're funding the new East Wing. How do we know they're not also just going to be getting deals in Congress? And how would we potentially stop that as a country? Well, the American people are going to be the ultimate guardrail, Jason, because they elected Donald Trump on a promise to drain the swamp. He's flooding the swamp with corporate cash. And if you think these enormous subs, huge checks to the Pentagon to build the Golden Ballroom, to provide this gilt Air Force One, if you think those don't come with strings attached, you're not paying attention.

19:30Corporations view this as an investment. They want returns. They're getting those returns and they're going to demand more. So for Donald Trump to scratch his itch, he wants that ballroom, he wants that plane. We run the risk of the American public interest being sold out. Now, there's a variety of other laws that are implicated at the Democracy Defenders Fund. We're litigating over 200 cases and matters. And I think you're going to see more litigation because these payments are illegitimate. And we know that they all have strings attached. And no matter what Trump says, I'm not going to believe there are no strings on him when he takes that much money from private companies.

20:14Ambassador Norm Eisen, thank you so much for joining us this evening on The Beat. Thanks, Jason. Still ahead, some lawmakers now calling Trump's lethal books rights illegal and, quote, murder. It's murder. It's very simple. But this is murder. It's sanctioned murder that he is doing that. Also later in the show, special guests on blowback from young voters and Trump loses his bid to hijack pop culture. But first, Democrats' aggressive new push to have Trump prosecutor Jack Smith testify publicly. We're back on the beat. Hi, it's Sierra Miller. I can't wait for you to check out my new collection of shoes and accessories at Designer Shoe Warehouse.

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22:29Former Special Counsel Jack Smith wants to testify in an open hearing, and lawmakers are responding. Congressman Raskin, ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, saying he's all for it. Well, we're all for it. They're allowed to be, you know, cross-examined by members of the opposing party. And that's exactly what Jim Jordan wants to do. The problem is that they're afraid he's going to be way too convincing and way too compelling when he actually gets to appear before the public. Last week, Smith sent a letter to Congress requesting to testify, saying he wanted to clear up, quote, mischaracterizations of his probes into trauma.

23:09This comes amid new reporting from The Washington Post, Carol Leoning and Aaron Davis, which details some of the decision making in Smith's office as he was deciding whether to bring charges against Trump for allegedly mishandling classified documents. Smith choosing to bring the case in Florida where the documents were stored rather than D.C. where the documents were taken from. A move the Post characterizes as, quote, a fateful decision that some in his own office saw as a misstep. Smith controlling that, concluding that trying the case in Florida put them on firmer legal ground, reducing the risk of the most serious charges being overturned on appeal.

23:52One federal prosecutor on the case reportedly responding, quote, are you effing insane? This is an existential threat to the case. He thought it was a, quote, huge gamble because, quote, the case could wind up before Judge Eileen Cannon, a Trump appointed jurist with a track record of disregarding precedent. And it did. The case was assigned to Cannon, who faced accusations of bias from legal experts for pro-Trump rulings. She ultimately did dismiss the case against Trump, despite what Jack Smith says was overwhelming evidence. He spoke about this during a rare on-camera appearance earlier this month.

24:37We had in the obstructive evidence publicly saying these are my documents or things like that and I can keep them. The evidence to not give the documents back when the government even tried to get them back before there was a criminal investigation. Those sort of things. And then after the investigation started, still refusing to give them back and then trying to obstruct the investigation. That helps prove willfulness. Joining me now is Hugo Lowell, White House correspondent with The Guardian. Hugo, thank you so much for joining us this evening. I'm going to start with this. I am taken aback by this quote.

25:13I mean, to find out that there were people within Jack Smith's office who were screaming and throwing over tables saying, hey, we should not prosecute this case down in Florida. Do you think that sort of not only dings his legacy, but does it sort of call into question his overall competence if you had that much pushback about something that could have resulted in what did happen, the case getting thrown out? Yeah, I don't think so, mainly because it was a big quandary at the time. right you know there were really three venues that this case could have possibly been charged it was dc uh because that was obviously where trump was president and the doc the boxes of documents were taken from there was florida where arguably it was the strongest venue because that was where the obstruction to the subpoena took place and they were trying to move the boxes around and hide them uh when when the grand jury subpoena came in to return the documents and then there was new jersey which was where uh the incident with the book publisher uh took place you'll recall Trump was telling Mark Meadows and his book publisher in front of Susie Wiles that, you know, he had all these documents and he should have declassified them when he was president, but that he hadn't.

26:21But I think, you know, in the end, it's difficult to fault Jack Smith on this count because had he charged this case in D.C., the first motion that the Trump lawyers would have filed is to remove it to Florida. And regardless of whether or not that was going to succeed, it is abundantly clear that that would have eaten up months and months. So if you are in Jack Smith's shoes and you're trying to cut out any delay, you're trying to forestall the kinds of motions that are coming your way, I can see why he took that call of action. I think there's a bigger question about whether, you know, Jack Smith should have moved to recuse.

26:55Eileen Cannon, you know, that's discussed in that Washington Post excerpt as well. I think that's a separate question. But I think it all comes back to the fact that it's very, very difficult to predict how these cases come down in the end. You know, let's assume, for instance, that we had gone to trial. Let's further assume that Jack Smith was able to convict Trump in the documents case and that it all happened before the election. Even if that took place, Trump would have appealed. He would have been probably released pending appeal and he would have run through the election. And it's not clear to me that had any of these different pieces moved in different ways, that the outcome would have been any different and Trump wouldn't have gone back to the White House.