Donald Trump isn’t joking about a third term

Believe him.

Almost a year ago to the day, The New York Times ran a special editorial just before Donald Trump would win the presidency again.

They used a full page to print out in giant, boldface, all-caps the following missive:

“Donald Trump says he will prosecute his enemies, order mass deportations, use soldiers against citizens, abandon allies, and play politics with disasters. Believe him.”

It was good advice, as we know a lot of what he was promising to do has already happened.

We saw much of it outlined in Project 2025, a blueprint published by the conservative Heritage Foundation, to reshape the federal government and consolidate executive power around Trump.

Despite denying any involvement in the project, Trump has seemingly used it as a literal roadmap to help avoid the parts of his first administration where he was thwarted by pesky inconveniences like the Constitution, the law, and separation of powers.

A community-driven Project 2025 tracker found that of the 319 objectives outlined in the initiative, Trump’s already made good on 121, including using government contracts to “push back against woke policies” in corporate America, rescinding Biden-era Title IX rules that strengthened the ability to prosecute sexual assault and discrimination cases, and turning back former Attorney General Merrick Garland’s policy that limited DOJ’s ability to subpoena journalists during leak investigations, to name just a few.

But he also blatantly told Americans what he was going to do at his rallies. These weren’t empty threats. They weren’t trial balloons so he could poll-test their popularity. They were promises.

One in particular seems to be motivating many of his decisions: “I will be your retribution.”

Just five days after the Times editorial was published, Trump sued CBS News for its interview of former Vice President Kamala Harris. A month after he won reelection he sued the Des Moines Register over a poll he didn’t like.

He’s already prosecuted former FBI Director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and former National Security Advisor John Bolton. He’s actively investigating other critics, including Sen. Adam Schiff, former Special Counsel Jack Smith, and former DHS official Miles Taylor.

And as we’ve all seen, he’s ordered mass deportations. He’s used soldiers against U.S. citizens. He’s abandoned allies. He’s played politics with disasters.

And yet, there are still apparently people who think he’s bluffing when he says he’d run for a third term.

Trump’s been teasing the idea for months. He makes it sound a little like he’s joking, but we’ve seen this movie before. He “joked” about not leaving the White House in 2020, too — and we all know what happened on Jan. 6. It’s always just a joke, until it isn’t.

Speaker Mike Johnson, ever Trump’s loyal lackey, has laughed it off as mere “trolling,” and has said he’s talked to the president about the constitutional constrictions of such a move — as if that’s ever been a compelling consideration for Trump.

Former Ohio governor and former presidential candidate John Kasich also brushed it off on MSNBC:

“No! Listen, have we had any states try to move to call a convention to change the amendment? Have we had any Republican governors do that? They’re not even going to answer a question like that because it’s not going to happen.”

Oh, the hubris. Trump has broken every norm, and he’s already violated the Constitution dozens of times. Anyone who believes Trump lives within existing boundaries, either of legality or decency, hasn’t been paying attention.

And counter to Kasich’s beliefs, Trump’s already got accomplices in both chambers of Congress willing to help him.

Rep. Randy Fine called for repealing the 22nd Amendment, which limits presidential terms to two, earlier this month.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville says it’s Trump’s call to make:

“If you read the Constitution, it says it’s not [possible],” said Tuberville. “But if [Trump] says he has some different circumstances that might be able to go around the Constitution, but that’s up to him.”

This isn’t a troll or a joke. Just listen to Steve Bannon, the architect of Trump’s first campaign:

“Well, he’s going to get a third term. So, Trump ’28. Trump is going to be president in ’28 and people ought to just get accommodated with that. There’s many different alternatives. At the appropriate time, we’ll lay out what the plan is.”

They have a plan. They’ll lay it out. This isn’t childish wishcasting or manifesting.

Bannon and Trump are designing it. They’re planning it. I’d bet they’re talking to lawyers and constitutional experts, and to the people they will need to help them do it at every level of government.

If we’ve learned one thing about Trump in all these years, it’s that we should believe him.

S.E. Cupp is the host of "S.E. Cupp Unfiltered" on CNN.