This is a picture of a magnet that was being sold at Strand's Book Store in New York City a few years ago. No, I did not buy it, but I liked it and took a picture, which I am sharing here now.
Sometimes, it seems funny to me how people interpret things. Let me start off illustrating this point on a light not. I am a Giants fan, as far as the NFL is concerned. But I am also a realist. Not all fans are. Not even close. And some fans will take it as you hating the team if you do not systematically predict that your favorite team is going all the way this year. "How can you call yourself a fan?"
Well, gee, I hope that they win. But they can't win every year, right? And maybe right now, I am enough of a realist to recognize that they need some real work to improve the lineup. Then they have to take real steps towards that goal. Like, say, qualifying for the playoffs. Maybe then we can start talking about what their actual chances are of winning it all will be.
That seems to me to be a new thing. Not even sure when it really happened, but it did happen. We mistook what we wanted to happen for what surely, inevitably would happen. Even when the reality will not nearly be so kind, and harsh reality will often slap us awake. At least until we get back to some comfortable sleep, which we collectively seem to have a remarkable capacity to return to, over and over again.
Somehow, I found the same thing was true in politics. Back in 2004, it seemed pretty obvious to me that the United States was going to re-elect George W. Bush. I thought it was just being a realist. Certainly, it was not what I wanted to happen, but it nevertheless seemed inevitable.
Yet, some people who, like me, did not like Bush were stupefied.
"Wait. I thought you didn't like Bush? I thought you were opposed to the war in Iraq, and all of that?"
It dumbfounded me.
"I am," I would say, then reminded them that it was not because I did not want something to happen that it necessarily meant that it was not going to happen. It's called having a grip on reality. After all, despite the utter nonsense that the Bush administration had done, and despite his approval ratings going significantly down, they never dipped down low enough that it seemed to me that he actually would not win the next election. It almost seemed like the nation hesitated to commit to admitting that this guy really had not been good for the country, and that it was time for a new direction, for near leadership.
That largely fell on deaf ears. Nobody outright said this, but it sure appeared to me like these people seemed dubious that I could simultaneously dislike everything that George W. Bush stood for while also predicting that he would win the 2004 election.
Perhaps I was conditioned that way. After all, I had grown up in a fairly liberal household while living in a very conservative suburban town during the Reagan/Bush years, seeing the damage that trickle-down economics and union-bashing and excessive military industrial complex spending and staggering corporate scandals was doing to the country, yet seeing election after election still somehow going their way. Usually with landslide wins, for that matter.
So I half-expected someone like Trump to come along and win the White House.
Don't get me wrong: I didn't actually expect it to be Donald Trump. Hell, he was such a useless, worse than worthless, narcissistic and transparently greedy and decadent scam artist that I had assumed everyone could and would see through him. No, I expected someone more like the fictional Greg Stillson, or something more like that. Certainly, Americans had not plummeted to such depths that they would actually put an imbecile, a clown like Donald Trump into the Oval Office.
Well, I was wrong about that one, obviously.
However, once we did elect him, it seemed to me more important than ever to have a clear head about these things. To recognize the danger that this man truly poses to our democracy, and to meet it head on. Not to veer off into wishful thinking or denial about what his ascension to power actually means or actually might bring to this country. So I never had a problem seeing that Trump was the kind of guy who would not easily ever give up power once he was given it. That meant that we might never really get rid of him, that he would just somehow stick around.
Yet, it seemed frankly astonishing to me how many people resisted this fairly obvious truth.
People made faces, dismissing the idea. Nobody really accused me of secretly supporting Trump, as they did in 2004 when I kept saying that I thought Bush would win. However, they also clearly did not take my opinion that he would run again and again - and win again and again, one way or another, fairly or not - seriously at all. Most people dismissed it as if I had made all of this up. As if Trump's naked ambition and lack of limits was all in my head.
Still, I never questioned that this is exactly what he would do for a moment. It seemed clear as day to me that this was what was going to happen. Other people said that the American people would never go for it. Most people - including supposed experts and pundits - seemed to suggest that it was unlikely that Trump would actually ever get back into the White House after Biden won the 2020 election, even though it seemed equally obvious to me that he actually likely would by blaming Biden for the inevitable inflation and gas price hikes following the end of the pandemic shutdown.
Then just days ago, it seemed to me that Trump finally revealed to one and all his naked ambition. He donned a "Trump 2028" MAGA hat. Once again, he said in a seemingly half-joking manner that he would be running for the White House yet again.
I say half-joking, because with Trump, he always makes things sound like a joke. Until they no longer are jokes. Remember how he also "joked" about being "president for life?" How he claimed everyone knew that he was joking when he said that it was a good idea, one which this country might do well to look into?
Now let's be frank: it also seems clear as day to me that he is not joking. That people slapping the "joke" label on this are either fooling themselves, or trying to comfort others, or both. Or perhaps, in some cases, they are Trump supporters and secretly want to see him win again. But this is one of those cases where, frankly, I feel like saying what I have been wanting to say for a long time.
Hate to say I told you so, but, well....
He is not joking. Not in the slightest. He admitted as much before. And while the White House Correspondent's Dinner is usually a time of relative levity for presidents regardless of party affiliation, this is one "joke" which this president is dead serious about.
Believe it. He will be running again in 2028. And let's be clear on another point: he has a very good chance of winning. I don't care what the poll numbers show right now, or how headlines scream that they are in the toilet. Didn't he already tell everyone, plain as day, that they will never have to vote again? I believed immediately after the 2024 election that he had won, fair and square. Didn't like it, but that was how I felt. Now, both Elon Musk and Trump himself have made suggestions and comments that cast doubt on that. But it won't change a thing. It doesn't matter. It's like Trump's seemingly obvious guilt regarding the Epstein List, which he clearly is on. Spoiler alert: it won't catch up with him. If ever there was one man who was a clear example of being above the law, this is the man.
While his many detractors and political opponents are gearing up for what they feel is his inevitable fall from power, he is now openly talking about running again in 2028. And I myself should make it clear that I am not kidding that he will have a real chance at winning. In fact, the Democrats would have to hope that his poll numbers really are in the tank by that point to have a real chance at taking back the White House, because that is what it would take.
Now, he is basically saying as much, in ways that we all fully understand what he is saying. That much he made clear just a few nights ago.
No, I am not going to bother rehashing Trump's White House Correspondent's Dinner speech, or dissect it, or anything like that.
In fact, I literally heard not one word of it. That was because it was on when I arrived at work, but the volume was turned almost all the way down, as it normally is. Truth be told, frankly, when it comes to Trump, that's generally the way that I prefer it. Better than hearing all of his nonsensical lies and propaganda, which I feel have done staggering damage to the country and, indeed, the entire world by this point.
However, there was one thing that Trump did which caught my attention. Right at the end, he donned a "Trump 2028" hat.
And yeah, I know that this is a night which is supposed to be about joking. So it can be allegedly taken with a grain of salt.
But I have said here repeatedly that I think Trump is serious about running again in 2028. Frankly, not only do I think he will, I don't think Trump's own ego - or his own narrow selfish interests - will allow himself not to run.
He will find some MAGA moron in Congress to endorse the idea, and the Congress will likely debate it. And for now, the Republicans are still in the majority.
No, I don't think that this is all a joke by Trump. If it is, it is a joke in the same way that him joking about being "president for life" or becoming a dictator is a joke. He will pass it off as a joke as a backup plan, and to deflect criticism. In fact, I suspect that he is deadly serious about running again. That is why he cannot bring himself to endorse a successor. In his mind's eye, I don't think that he can accept anyone running things after him. Period.
And it's not like he has not been pretty clear about his ambitions to be president for life in the past or somehow remained quiet about his intention to run for yet another term. Here is documentation from Newsweek about just how often he has made mention of it. This should serve as proof that he is dead serious about this. Take a look (see link below to see the Newsweek article for yourself):
May 18th 2024 - First mention of it at an NRA convention, even before he had officially won a second term.
November 13, 2024 He "joked" about this before House Republicans just days after the 2024 election.
January 25, 2025 - "Three times or four times" he would serve, he declared at a Las Vegas rally.
January 27, 2025 - Said it during a Republican retreat in Miami.
February 6, 2025 - Talked about how "they claim I can't run again." When have you ever know this man to follow any kinds of laws or rules? He clearly believes that he is above the law, or at least an exception to it.
February 20, 2025 - Black History Month event, asked "Should I run again?" which prompted the assembled crowd to chant "four more years."
March 30, 2025 - During an NBC interview, Trump made clear that he was not joking about running for another term, claiming that there were certain methods that could be followed which would allow him to run again.
March 30, 2025 - Follow up on Air Force One. He said that he did not want to focus on a third term, but then suggested that "many people" were urging him to run again.
April 28, 2025 - The Atlantic asked him about serving beyond two terms, to which he responded: "Maybe I'm just trying to shatter."
August 18, 2025 - Trump met with the Ukrainian President and joked that a future war would mean "no more elections."
October 27, 2025 - Again aboard Air Force One, Trump claimed that he would "love" to serve yet another term.
February 6, 2026 - Said "I don't know. That would be interesting" after being asked by NBA News about serving a possible third term.
May 4, 2026 - During a White House Small Business Summit, Trump "joked" about finally leaving the White House "eight or nine years from now"
May 21, 2026 - Addressing the Coast Guard Academy while discussing ice breaker ships, Trump quipped that "maybe I'll be here in '32. I don't know."
July 24, 2026 - During the rescheduled White House Correspondent's Dinner following the fake assassination attem.....errr, um, the attempted assassination the first time around, Trump announced his intention to run for a "fourth term"
For a very long time now, many people - both on the left and on the right - have wondered why Trump seems not to be willing to openly endorse either Vance or Rubio or someone else for the 2028 election. They really seemed to wonder why he was so reluctant. How it could be that Trump just will not show which of these men he feels can carry on his legacy.
And it made me want to take a pillow and scream into it. After all, the real reason is, to me, so damn obvious and right in front of their faces, but they refuse to see it. Or perhaps to face the reality of it, because then you have to face the actual real danger of it. The real reason that he did not endorse either man was because he saw no need to. After all, he fully intends to run again in 2028. Why endorse someone else, or even pay them serious compliments, when that might detract from your own intentions of running again? After all, he already made clear that he is not joking about running again.
So that's why he refuses to really assign anyone else to a clear-cut position of leadership right behind him. In his mind's eye, I am sure that absolutely nobody is worthy of leading except for him. That is why he intends to grace us all with his eternally great and wonderful and divine presence in the White House for yet another four years, and another four years after that, and another four years.....
You see where I'm going? For as long as he survives, he intends to be the sitting President of the United States. President for life, literally.
Still don't believe me?
Fine. Just don't say that you weren't warned.
It's kind of funny. When he first won the Republican nomination, I wondered how the Republicans could ruin their chances in the election with such a clown. But a part of me was worried that he had a real chance. Much like the 2004 election, when everyone hemmed and hawed and remained on the fence about Bush's failed leadership, everyone seemed hesitant to fully rule Trump out. Eventually, he won. I knew he was going to win starting on Halloween of that year, when I saw Trump bumper stickers and flags everywhere in my old hometown.
Then I wondered what it was that people saw in this man. He seemed such an odd fit, such an obvious clown.
In time, it came to me. In fact, he is in some ways the perfect man for these times. The perfect figure for what this country has allowed itself to become. Quite literally, he is the face and voice of the Ugly American, and all of his disgustingly xenophobic and blindly nationalist and blatantly self-interested mannerisms. This is who we are now, collectively. This is what we have become. This is who represents us on the international stage.
We fool ourselves into believing that it's not as bad as it actually is. Trump opponents fool themselves with believing that he will lose the upcoming election, or that he will surely go to jail, or that his health is about to fail him, or that he will somehow be ousted. And Trump supporters fool themselves by believing that he actually cares about them, or that he truly has wonderful and inspired leadership. They trick themselves into believing that he means says what he means and means what he says, and does what he promises. Meanwhile, the national debt keeps growing. In just six years (not even), Trump now accounts for well over 25% of that national debt which, by the way, he promised to fully pay off in eight years. We have overextended ourselves militarily all around the world, and under Trump, we now have lost alliances and trust and respect.
In short, we are a nation quite clearly in decline. At least if you look at the facts, look at the reality of where we are. Where we have collectively put ourselves. For a nation to put it's collective trust in a man like Trump is a reflection of our decline. Not only is this man not an answer, he has no real answers for any of our actual problems. In fact, he is actively making them worse.
Now, I have come to accept the reality that Trump is likely our national downfall. To me, he is like one of the decadent emperors of ancient Rome, once it becomes clear that it was spiraling downward, heading towards collapse. That is where we are headed. And it feels like there is no stopping it now. So of course Trump will likely be the one to see us buried under his naked ambition and greed and blatant corruption. Could it have been anybody else, other than this pathetic, needy, small man? Who else could have managed to somehow cast his own shadow over an entire nation of well over 340 million people? Who else could make us collectively seem a reflection of him, narrow and self-obsessed and helplessly, drunkenly heading towards our own downfall?
Yes, it took me a while to catch on. But now I see it. It could only have been Donald Trump. Who else? Is there another man who could have led us so effortlessly from an admittedly flawed democracy to a dictatorship? Who else could have taken the virtues of American liberty and relative freedom and turned it into an oligarchy, bloated and corrupt and swaggering drunkenly on it's own power before the entire rest of the world?
And so long as we are losing our democracy, who else but Trump could possibly decide that the term limits simply do not apply to him? That he will be the exception, as he has been throughout his entire, pathetic, ultra-privileged and whiny little life?
Maybe I myself have fallen into despair about the state of the country. But I will admit that if there's an end to all of this that does not inevitably lead to disaster, I just don't see it. Long have I believed that things in this country will not improve until we are seriously hurting and no longer have the luxury of indulging in celebrity worship and frivolities. And yes, I now believe that Trump was inevitable. That it was his destiny - remains his destiny - to bring us there as a nation. To that end, he remains very committed. And this fate now feels inescapable.
Here is my prediction: Trump will run again in 2028, and he will win. And this country will continue to fall, continue to fail spectacularly in almost every way with Trump cashing in - literally - the entire time. For now, enough Americans feel that this all still falls under the realm of relative normality. Many still feel that Trump is some sort of an aberration, that the United States will return back to normal once he is inevitably gone.
For me, it seems the opposite is true. Trump was the inevitable outcome of our collective choices going back many decades now. And he is as inescapable as the outcome of those choices have always been. Hell, he is the outcome of those choices and will remain such for the foreseeable future.
Just don't say you weren't warned.
List of Times Trump Has Joked About Running in 2028 by Sam Stevenson Associate News Editor, July 25, 2026:
https://www.newsweek.com/list-donald-trump-joke-running-2028-12243915
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