Three Terms For Trump?

At his inauguration, President Donald Trump swore an oath containing the phrase that “I will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” Simple and straightforward, just as other presidents before him have sworn.

However, Mr. Trump’s interpretation of that oath has instead deviated from all other presidents’ — not just in his apparent ignorance of the Constitution, but with an arrogance that he has the freedom to change the Constitution where it suits his scholarly fancy.

His attacks on the First Amendment and the freedom of the press are well documented. His recent brainstorm about altering the 14th Amendment by a stroke of his felt-tipped pen to deny 150 years of citizenship by right of birth is frightening and borderline dictatorial.

Article Five of the Constitution clearly defines the ratification process and prevents the whims of one person from destroying the beating heart of our nation.

And yet, given Mr. Trump’s self-aggrandizing and egotistical tendencies, the amendment that I fear may next come into his narrow field of vision is the 22nd, which limits presidents to two terms.

Imagine if Mr. Trump is somehow re-elected in

2020 and decides that only he can lead this country. Will he relinquish power, or will he seek to energize his “base” and repeal that pesky amendment?

Gale Morganroth, Coventry