--- title: What a Second Trump Term Means for the Constitution description: Kermit Roosevelt III considers how the U.S. Constitution will withstand Trump’s second term. canonical: https://time.com/7173861/second-trump-term-constitution-essay/ author: TIME article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-11-07T18:12:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-19T07:48:16.014Z article:section: Ideas og:title: What a Second Trump Term Means for the Constitution og:description: Kermit Roosevelt III considers how the U.S. Constitution will withstand Trump’s second term. og:url: https://time.com/7173861/second-trump-term-constitution-essay/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc802393123cefc93/698a9bffd07533675be77d72/trump-2024_ac2b0a.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: trump-election-night-nov-2024 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What a Second Trump Term Means for the Constitution twitter:description: Kermit Roosevelt III considers how the U.S. Constitution will withstand Trump’s second term. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc802393123cefc93/698a9bffd07533675be77d72/trump-2024_ac2b0a.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 05:49 video:published: 2024-11-07 section: politics topics: presidential transition, peaceful transfer of power, election integrity, election workers, Kamala Harris campaign, Biden administration legacy, national unity, legislation impact, US economy, resilience after defeat genre: speech, news tones: conciliatory, reflective, earnest, encouraging emotions: gratitude (high), hope (medium), empathy (medium), pride (medium) sentiment: positive audience: US news followers, political observers, voters, policy watchers people: Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Kamala Harris content_suitability: politics [00:00-05:49] transcript_source: publisher captions transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # What a Second Trump Term Means for the Constitution > Sponsored content. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=bc8ec343-d1a3-49d1-bcde-7583b768e21e&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Biden Wants to Show Trump What a Peaceful and Orderly Transfer of Power Looks Like [Watch (HLS stream): Biden Wants to Show Trump What a Peaceful and Orderly Transfer of Power Looks Like](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/qXV3KB1A.m3u8) (5:49)  _Published 2024-11-07. President Joe Biden stepped into the Rose Garden Thursday to acknowledge Donald Trump’s victory over his Vice President Kamala Harris._ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary President Joe Biden delivers remarks acknowledging the election result and describing the transition ahead. He says he spoke with President-elect Trump and Vice President Harris, praises Harris's character and campaign, and calls for Americans to see each other as fellow citizens. He defends the integrity of the electoral system, thanks election workers, and reflects on his administration's accomplishments. He closes with encouragement to keep engaged and keep the faith. ## Key points - Biden says he spoke with President-elect Trump to congratulate him and promised to direct his entire administration to work with Trump's team on a peaceful, orderly transition. (00:31) - Biden says he also spoke with Vice President Harris, describing her as a partner and public servant who ran an inspiring campaign and showed true character. (00:50) - Biden states that the American electoral system is honest, fair and transparent, and can be trusted whether one wins or loses. (02:14) - Biden calls for restoring respect for election workers and thanks them for staffing voting sites, counting votes and protecting the integrity of the election, many as volunteers. (02:30) - Biden says a peaceful transfer of power will take place on January 20 and that he will fulfill his oath and honor the Constitution. (02:58) - Biden says much of his administration's legislation is only now kicking in and most of its effects will be felt over the next ten years. (03:31) - Biden says the administration is leaving behind the strongest economy in the world and that 74 days remain in the term. (04:06) - Biden says that setbacks are unavoidable but giving up is unforgivable, and that a defeat does not mean Americans are defeated. (04:35) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:31] Opening remarks on American self-government. Biden greets the audience and describes America's experiment in self-government where the people choose leaders peacefully. - [00:31 to 01:18] Calls with Trump and Harris. Biden describes speaking with President-elect Trump about the transition and praises Vice President Harris and her campaign. - [01:18 to 02:14] Accepting the choice and uniting. Biden says the country accepts its choice and urges Americans to see each other as fellow Americans and lower the temperature. - [02:14 to 03:12] Election integrity and workers. Biden defends the electoral system, thanks election workers, and commits to his oath and a peaceful transfer of power. - [03:12 to 04:28] Administration accomplishments and remaining term. Biden acknowledges people are hurting, highlights the lasting effects of his legislation and the economy, and notes 74 days remain. - [04:28 to 05:49] Resilience and closing message. Biden urges perseverance after defeat, says the American experiment endures, thanks those he worked with, and closes with a blessing. ## Key quotes - [00:21] Joe Biden: "The people vote and choose their own leaders, and they do it peacefully." - [01:52] Joe Biden: "you can't love your country only when you win." - [02:20] Joe Biden: "It is honest, it is fair," - [04:35] Joe Biden: "Setbacks are unavoidable, but giving up is unforgivable." - [04:52] Joe Biden: "Remember, a defeat does not mean we are defeated." - [05:16] Joe Biden: "The American experiment endures." ## Questions this video answers - What did Biden say about his conversation with President-elect Trump? [00:31] - How does Biden describe Vice President Harris and her campaign? [00:50] - What does Biden say about the integrity of the American electoral system? [02:14] - How does Biden thank election workers? [02:30] - When will the transfer of power take place according to Biden? [03:06] - What does Biden say about the long-term impact of his administration's legislation? [03:31] ## Content suitability - politics [00:00-05:49]: Presidential address on the election outcome, the transition of power and the administration's record. by [Kermit Roosevelt III](https://time.com/author/kermit-roosevelt/) ## Kermit Roosevelt III Nov 7, 2024 6:12 PM UTC President Joe Biden stepped into the Rose Garden Thursday to acknowledge Donald Trump’s victory over his Vice President Kamala Harris. by [Kermit Roosevelt III](https://time.com/author/kermit-roosevelt/) ## Kermit Roosevelt III Nov 7, 2024 6:12 PM UTC America has the world’s [longest-lasting](https://www.senate.gov/about/origins-foundations/senate-and-constitution/constitution-day.htm) written constitution. It’s been through a lot—one Civil War, two World Wars, a Great Depression, and all the shocks of the early 21st century. It’s been amended 27 times, though not since 1992\. The document, you might think, has shown some staying power. But even after all of that, the 2024 U.S. election has some people [asking](https://www.americanprogress.org/article/project-2025-would-destroy-the-u-s-system-of-checks-and-balances-and-create-an-imperial-presidency/) whether it can go another round with [President Donald Trump](https://time.com/7172052/how-donald-trump-won-2024/). In thinking about the possible impacts on the Constitution of a second Trump term, it’s useful to separate out three different categories of constitutional rules. First, there are norms: principles that are not written down in the Constitution and that aren’t enforced by judges. Norms emerge from practice, sometimes dating back to the days of George Washington. These are things like the understanding that the Attorney General has some degree of independence from the president, or that the Department of Justice should not be used to harass political opponents. **Read More**: [_How Far Trump Would Go_](https://time.com/6972021/donald-trump-2024-election-interview/) Second, there is judge-made law: judicial decisions interpreting vague constitutional provisions. Judges have identified fundamental rights, like the right to contraception, or the right of same-sex couples to marry, that are not spelled out in the Constitution, and they have defined the contours of rights that are stated in general terms, like the freedom of speech. Last, there are clear constitutional provisions, like the requirement that a president must be at least 35 years old, or that each state gets two senators. Which of these things will hold against a second Trump administration? Norms will not—that was in many ways the lesson of the first Trump term. When Trump was constrained by norms, it was usually not because he agreed to observe them, but because he faced [pushback](https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/11/politics/milley-trump-appearance-mistake/index.html) from other members of his administration or the federal bureaucracy. But perhaps the main difference between the first and the second Trump terms is that he has [plans](https://protectdemocracy.org/work/trumps-schedule-f-plan-explained/) to eliminate that form of resistance. We can expect that Trump will do things that no other president would have even tried, like directing prosecutions of critics or rivals, which he has threatened to do. Judge-made constitutional law can stand against the executive branch—but only if the judges want it to. What judges give, they can take away. That has been the lesson of the Trump Supreme Court, which began during Trumps first term and has extended through the Biden administration. Earlier judicial decisions are being undone at a remarkable rate: recent years have seen the Court take away the right to [abortion](https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/19-1392%5F6j37.pdf) and ban [affirmative action](https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/22pdf/20-1199%5Fhgdj.pdf). Here, too, we can expect the promise of Trump’s agenda to continue. Freedom of the press, for instance, is ripe for originalist reconsideration. It would not be surprising if the Supreme Court whittled free speech down to allow the government to silence some critics: Justice Clarence Thomas has [suggested](https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/27/politics/clarence-thomas-first-amendment-libel-new-york-times-supreme-court/index.html) this already. The Court is subject to some checks, if it clashes intensely with the other branches of government: proposals for term limits or court expansion can get its attention and encourage it to think about its proper role. (FDR’s [court-packing plan](https://www.fjc.gov/history/timeline/fdrs-court-packing-plan), for instance, was never enacted, but many historians give it credit for inspiring the Court to accept the New Deal.) But that sort of pushback will be absent with a Republican president and Senate. Trump may well have the chance to appoint more Justices, either to restock the Republican bench with younger judges (Thomas is 76, Alito 74) or to further shrink the Democratic side (Sotomayor is 70, Kagan 64). Barring legislative intervention, the Supreme Court will be reliably conservative for the rest of this century. **Read more:**[_Why SCOTUS Term Limits Will Lead to a Fairer Court_](https://time.com/7005039/scotus-term-limits-fairer-court-essay/) This, then, leaves the clear text of the Constitution for us to consider. This will probably hold, although when it wants to, the Supreme Court has shown a willingness to disregard relatively clear constitutional rules—like the [one](https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/penn%5Flaw%5Freview/vol172/iss3/1/) barring oath-breaking insurrectionists from the presidency. More specifically, the 22nd Amendment, which limits presidents to two terms, is likely to hold. And no attempt to amend the Constitution to eliminate it is likely to succeed. So the second Trump term will be the last. That may not be much comfort for progressives, but there is one important point to be made: Our history has seen many conflicts. Crisis often produces change, and change does not always go the way you might expect at first. Let’s think back to the Civil War. You might think, for instance, that the decision of 11 states to reject the authority of the national government and forming the Confederate States of America would end up weakening that government. But the change that secession brought went in the opposite direction. First through Lincoln’s aggressive [use](https://presidentlincoln.illinois.gov/visit/whats-inside/exhibits/online-exhibits/emancipationproclamation/#:~:text=Now%2C%20therefore%2C%20I%2C%20ABRAHAM,necessary%20war%20measure%20for%20suppressing) of his commander-in-chief powers, and then through amendments that knitted the states into a tighter union, the national government emerged from that crisis much stronger. It was only after the Civil War that we really became a nation. The nation that Reconstruction made was quite different from the one the Founders envisioned. We tend to downplay the radicalism of Reconstruction, because we like to tell a story of continuity, in which the Constitution written in 1787 has guided us for over 200 years. But after the Civil War, we rejected many aspects of that Constitution. As Thurgood Marshall [said](https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/historic-document-library/detail/the-constitutions-bicentennial-commemorating-the-wrong-document-1987), though the Union survived the Civil War, the Founders’ Constitution did not. And it was from that traumatic rupture, those dashed preconceptions of what America was, that a new and better America was born. It will take time to identify the meaning of this election. It may be nothing much, or at least nothing special to in the grand scheme of things—countries around the world have [rejected](https://www.vox.com/2024-elections/383208/donald-trump-victory-kamala-harris-global-trend-incumbents) incumbents; it is not surprising for the U.S. to follow that trend. Or it may be something more. But if the lesson is indeed that different segments of the population have irreconcilable visions of what America is and should be, that realization of Trump’s ascendence back into the White House is only the first step. ## Transcript [00:00] Hey, uh, it's good to see you all, [00:03] particularly good to see my granddaughter sitting in the front row here. [00:06] Hi, Finn, how are you, honey? [00:08] For over 200 years, [00:10] America's carried on the greatest experiment [00:13] in self government in the history of the world. [00:17] And that's not hyperbole. [00:18] That's a fact. We're the people. [00:21] The people vote and choose their own leaders, and they do it peacefully. [00:25] And we're in a democracy, [00:27] the will of the people always prevails. [00:31] Yesterday, I spoke with President elect Trump to congratulate him on his victory, [00:37] and I assured him that I'd direct my entire administration to [00:42] work with his team to ensure a peaceful and orderly transition. [00:47] That's what the American people deserve. [00:50] Yesterday, I also spoke with Vice President Harris. [00:54] She's been a partner and a public servant. [00:57] She ran an inspiring campaign, [01:00] and everyone got to see something that I [01:02] learned early on to respect so much, her character. [01:06] She has a backbone like a ramrod. [01:08] She has great character, true character. [01:11] She gave her whole heart and effort, [01:13] and she and her entire team should be proud of the campaign they ran. [01:18] You know, the struggle for the soul of America, [01:22] since our very founding has always been an ongoing debate and still vital today. [01:31] I know for some people, it's a time for victory to state the obvious. [01:36] For others, it's a time of loss. [01:39] Campaigns are contest of competing visions. [01:43] The country chooses one or the other. [01:46] We accept the choice the country made. [01:50] I've said many times, [01:52] you can't love your country only when you win. [01:57] You can't love your neighbor, only when you agree. [02:03] Something I hope we can do, [02:05] no matter who you voted for, is see each other, [02:08] not as adversaries, but as fellow Americans. [02:12] Bring down the temperature. [02:14] I also hope we can lay to rest the question about [02:17] the integrity of the American electoral system. [02:20] It is honest, it is fair, [02:23] and it is transparent. [02:26] And it can be trusted win or lose. [02:30] I also hope we can restore the respect for [02:34] all our election workers who busted their necks and took risks at the outset. [02:39] We should thank them, thank them for staffing voting sites, [02:43] counting the votes, and protecting the very integrity of the election. [02:48] Many of them are volunteers who do it simply out of love for their country. [02:54] And as they did, as they did their duty as citizens, [02:58] I will do my duty as president. [03:01] I'll fulfill my oath, [03:03] and I will honor the Constitution. [03:06] On January 20, we'll have a peaceful transfer of power here in America. [03:12] I know it's a difficult time. You're hurting. [03:16] I hear you and I see you. [03:18] But don't forget. Don't forget all that we accomplished. [03:22] It's been a historic presidency. [03:25] Not because I'm present because what we've done, [03:27] what you've done, a presidency for all Americans. [03:31] Much of the work we've done is already being felt by the American people, [03:36] but the vast majority of it will not be felt felt over the next ten years. [03:41] We have legislation we passed. [03:44] That's just only now just really kicking in. [03:48] And so much more. It's gonna take time. But it's there. [03:53] The road ahead is clear, [03:55] assuming we sustain it. [03:57] There's so much, so much we can get [04:00] done and will get done based the way the legislation was passed. [04:04] And it's truly historic. [04:06] You know, we're leaving behind the strongest economy in the world. [04:13] I know people are still hurting, [04:15] but things are changing rapidly. [04:18] Together, we've changed America for the better. [04:21] Now we have 74 days to finish the term. Our term. [04:26] Let's make every day count. [04:28] That's the responsibility we have to the American people. [04:32] Look, folks, you all know it in your lives. [04:35] Setbacks are unavoidable, but giving up is unforgivable. [04:40] Setbacks are unavoidable, but giving up is unforgivable. [04:45] We all get knocked down. [04:47] But the measure of our character, [04:48] as my dad would say is how quickly we get back up. [04:52] Remember, a defeat does not mean we are defeated. [04:57] We lost this battle. The America of your dreams is calling for you to get back up. [05:05] That's the story of America for over 240 years and county. [05:12] It's a story for all of us, not just some of us. [05:16] The American experiment endures. [05:19] We're gonna be okay. But we need to stay engaged. We need to keep going. [05:26] And above all, we need to keep the faith. [05:30] I'm so proud to have worked with all of you. [05:33] I really mean it. I sincerely mean it. [05:36] God bless you all. God bless America and may God protect our troops. [05:43] Thank you, thank you. 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