Donald Trump is famous for two things -- well, more than that, but none of them are good. He lies constantly, consistently, and uncontrollably. He's also famous for saying the quiet part out loud, then repeating it, lying about it (lies are always in the equation), and feigning ignorance when a Truth Social missive becomes reality.
During the 2024 election, he was so public about his desire for "retribution" that America collectively ignored it because he drowned himself out..
Now, true to form, he's made good on that promise in ways both alarming and absurd. Using the Justice Department as his personal retribution regiment, going after perceived enemies like John Bolton, James Comey, and Letitia James, all under the grotesque guise of "justice."
He even posted publicly what was clearly meant to be a private message to Attorney General Pam Bondi, telling her to "get on the ball." When the man who once declared, "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody," starts dictating vendettas and vengeance on social media, we should no longer be surprised at what the results are.
Related: Donald Trump brags that 'we took the freedom of speech away'
His same overtness, the public threats, braggadocio, and endless bluster, also define Trump's latest distraction, his talk of a third term. The talk of this illegality keeps emerging like insidious white-headed acne and eventually gets popped by pundits and constitutional experts.
But Trump pays "no never mind" to them, as my great-great-uncle used to say. He keeps talking about it because he knows the media will scramble after it.
On his way to Asia over the weekend, Trump mused with reporters about the possibility of staying in office beyond 2028. Since then, he's let surrogates such as Steve Bannon fan the flames.
It's all part of Trump's constant craving for attention and deflection, his "look over here, not over there." While the nation fixates on the constitutional impossibility of a third Trump term, he's hoping we'll ignore the chaos he's already creating, that of an unraveling economy, militarized streets, in-and-out tariffs, and a government in complete dysfunction.
OK, so full disclosure, I stopped making political predictions after Kamala Harris lost the presidency. I don't think you can predict anything anymore. Surprises have become the new prediction. The political landscape has been too volatile, too absurd, to trust even the most rational premonition.
Related: Rachel Maddow confronts Kamala Harris on not picking Pete Buttigieg as her running mate because he's gay
But this I will predict confidently, and that is Donald Trump will not be running for a third term, so you can stop worrying about that possibility and key in on the mess happening now. I guess they call that "being in the moment."
First, the political ground beneath him is already cracking. Voters across the country have been showing up in off-year elections to send a message, and it's not a good one for the GOP. Americans are tired of the autocratic slide, tired of the chaos that's transpired in just the first nine months of the Trump presidency.
They are also tired of the corruption being ignored by Republican leaders, who are too cowed and too complicit to stop Trump. So the voters must try to stop all this nonsense themselves.
Economists warn of a looming perfect storm, an economic crash fueled by Trump's tariffs, the so-called implications of the "big beautiful bill," and this government shutdown that shows no signs of relenting,
Further, Trump is completely ignorant of how global markets actually work and the benefits of free trade with our neighbors and allies. As jobs vanish and prices soar, health care costs will balloon to catastrophic levels.
His administration's galling and expansive cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services, coupled with the brain-wormed RFK Jr.'s reckless scrapping of vaccine programs, are steering the country toward another perfect storm, that is a sicker, poorer, more desperate America.
Related: Robert 'Froggy' Kennedy Jr. ribbits lies, conspiracy theories, and gibberish, garbling our public health
And through it all, Trump is building a ballroom fit for a king. I'm going to go ahead and call it the "Trump Ballroom," because while he says that it isn't going to be named after him, we all know it will be -- that's another prediction, by the way.
Next year, the Qatar plane will be retrofitted for even more opulence, and the 250th anniversary of America's founding will be repurposed as a Trump-centric coronation. Another prediction, and I know I said no more, but a spectacle does not happen under Trump unless it's about Trump, i.e. hosting the Kennedy Center Honors.
On top of all this is the growing "No Kings" movement sweeping through states, cities, college campuses, and elsewhere. It is proof that the country is screaming that the U.S. is not a monarchy,
While Trump tries to distract from America's collapse, Americans are about to start feeling all the effects of his ineptitude. The emperor will finally have no clothes.
But, and this is the big but, the most decisive reason Trump won't run again has nothing to do with the economy, the law, or politics. It's about biology.
Trump is 79 years old, wobbling around on his cankles, pretending he's in his 60s, and doing everything possible to hide the toll that time has taken on him. The presidency is the most demanding job on earth, even for someone as lazy as Trump. It's physically punishing, mentally exhausting, and absolutely unforgiving.
Look at how the office aged Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, even Barack Obama. They emerged grayer, lined, and visibly older. Trump, with his Big Macs, Diet Cokes, hair dye, and midnight rage-posting, can't cheat Mother Nature no matter how hard he tries.
She has a way of zapping you just when you think that you've got her cornered.
If he were to somehow run again and win, he'd be 83 when he took office. There's no "Benjamin Button" syndrome in real life. Aging doesn't reverse itself, as any of us of a certain age know, it accelerates.
Whatever ailments are swirling around Trump at 79, the visible fatigue, the slurred words, the odd gait, the mental fog, will only deepen. The presidency doesn't just expose frailty, it magnifies it.
Americans already turned on Joe Biden, not simply because of inflation but because they saw how the passage of time grabbed him and startled us all. Reagan's cognitive decline was managed quietly before the 24-hour news cycle and social media.
Related: Watching Joe Biden made me realize, sadly, that my grandfather was elderly -- and human too
Today, every stutter, stumble, and slip is looped endlessly. Trump will not be spared that scrutiny. He mentioned, in passing, getting an MRI during his last checkup, and all the cable news networks have brought in their medical doctors to talk about what that means.
Trump said the MRI was "perfect." But this man who lies habitually should not be believed. .
There will be no third term for Donald J. Trump. Not because the Constitution forbids it but because time, truth, and the human body will, and he will decline right along with America.
Trump is not immortal. He's not even particularly strong. He's an elderly man who's lived a lifetime of excess, neglect, and denial. And sooner rather than later, those choices will catch up with him and prohibit him from running again.