US President Donald Trump on Monday refused to rule out running for a third term, despite the US Constitution limiting presidential terms to two four-year terms. He is currently serving his second term.
“I would love to do that,” President Trump, 79, told reporters aboard Air Force One on his way to Japan during a week-long trip to Asia. “I have the best numbers ever.”
Mr. Trump, the oldest U.S. president ever to hold office, on Monday was perhaps the most explicit of his repeated assertions that he may run for president again in 2028, when he is 82 years old.
President Trump is already selling $50 baseball caps emblazoned with the slogan “Trump 2028.” The president pointed out a hat that read “Four more years” on display in the White House gift shop along with other Trump 2028 hats to European leaders Volodymyr Zelensky and Emmanuel Macron, who toured the presidential palace in Washington, D.C., in August.
So how serious is President Trump actually thinking about running in 2028? And will he be able to find a way to make it happen?
What is President Trump saying about running for a third term?
President Trump was aboard Air Force One on Monday when reporters asked him about his prospects for the 2028 presidential election after leaving the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Malaysia.
President Trump said, “I would love to do that.”
Pressed by reporters on the issue, President Trump said, “Can I deny that possibility? You’ll have to tell me that.” “All I can say is we have a great, great group of people, and they don’t,” he responded, referring to Democrats.
When asked if he intended to challenge his bid for president again in court, President Trump replied:
Trump reiterated, “You know, we have some very good people, but I have the best poll numbers ever.”
President Trump also pondered who might be a good Republican candidate for the 2028 presidential election, naming people from his own administration.
“We have great people. I don’t need to go into it, but one of them is standing here. We are, J.D., obviously the vice president is great. Marco is great,” Trump said, referring to Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
President Trump also said of the medical exams he received earlier this month at Walter Reed Hospital, “the doctors said they were some of the best reports of their age, some of the best reports they’ve ever seen.”
“It was perfect,” the president said.
What does the U.S. Constitution say about all this?
The U.S. Constitution specifically prohibits candidates from serving as president a third time. The 22nd Amendment to the Constitution states: “No person shall be elected to the office of President more than twice.”
Constitutional experts say there is no way around this.
The 22nd Amendment was passed by Congress in 1947 and later ratified in 1951. This was a direct response to the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, a Democrat who had served as president during World War II. Roosevelt served as president four times: in 1932, 1936, 1940, and 1944.
He died in 1945, a few months into his fourth term.
Wayne Unger, a law professor at Quinnipiac University, told Reuters the amendment had never been heard in court, but any challenge from President Trump would likely fail.
“The Supreme Court would say no, obviously, two four-year terms, Donald Trump, he can’t run for a third term,” said Unger, who teaches constitutional law.
What would it take to change the 22nd Amendment?
Presidents before Roosevelt voluntarily followed George Washington’s two-term precedent.
Republicans had proposed an amendment that would limit elections to two to prevent too much concentration of power.
To amend it again would require approval by two-thirds of Congress and ratification by three-quarters of the states (38 out of 50 states), which is a very high hurdle.
Trump’s party currently holds a 219-213 majority in the House, a 53-47 majority in the Senate, and Republicans control 28 state legislatures.
Is there a way around this, such as running for vice president instead?
Constitutional law experts say there is no way he could become president for a third time by circumventing the law.
MAGA supporters and Trump campaign leaders have proposed that he run for vice president and then drop his presidential candidacy after taking office, putting him back in the White House.
It’s similar to the Netflix hit House of Cards, where protagonist Frank Underwood, played by Kevin Spacey, becomes president through manipulation and political intrigue. “I’m one second away from being president, and not a single vote has been cast in my name,” he famously said. “Democracy is overrated.”
But President Trump on Monday dismissed such MAGA speculation.
“I would be allowed to do that,” President Trump said in an exchange with reporters. But he said he thought it was “too cute.”
“I don’t think people like it. It’s too cute, but it’s not. It’s not right,” he said.
In theory, Trump is not eligible to be president and therefore cannot run for vice president. The Twelfth Amendment states that a person who is not constitutionally qualified to hold the office of President is not eligible to hold the office of Vice President of the United States.
How has President Trump changed his stance on this over time?
It all started in 2018 with a musing at a private fundraiser for Republican donors. At that time, President Trump praised China’s Xi Jinping, saying that he had become a “president for life” during his first term.
“I think it’s great. I might try it someday,” he said, drawing laughter and applause.
Later, when he spoke at the Turning Point USA Summit hosted by the late Charlie Kirk, a jubilant crowd chanted, “Four more years!” President Trump expressed his gratitude and added, “Now, if you want to drive them crazy, just say, ’16 more years, 16 more years!'”
He repeated this drill in August 2020 at a campaign event in Charlotte, North Carolina, telling the audience, “If you really want to drive them crazy, say ’12 more years!'”
Since assuming his second term as president in January, he has been thinking about this issue more and more.
In an interview with NBC News in April, President Trump said there was a “way” to a possible re-election, but did not elaborate further. Later that month, Trump told Time magazine that his team was considering possible legal options for a third term.
“There are some loopholes being discussed, but I don’t believe there are loopholes,” he said, without specifying what they were.
But the following month, Trump recanted in another NBC interview, saying, “This is not what I’m going to do,” and referring to a third presidential bid.
“I’ve had a great four years and I’d like to put it in the hands of someone, ideally a great Republican, to carry it forward.”
But then he seemed to be back on track, flaunting Trump 2028 merchandise to European leaders at the White House and touting his glowing hospital results to reporters on Air Force One, deciding he was fit to return to office.
How popular is Trump now?
The US president’s approval rating has fallen since he took office in January, falling from a high of 52%, according to a polling firm.
A Quinnipiac poll released last week found that only 40% of voters approve of Trump as president, while 54% disapprove. According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, President Trump’s disapproval rating was 56%, a net disapproval rate.
According to Gallup, the longest-running presidential polling company since the 1940s, President Trump has the lowest average approval rating of any U.S. president.
A survey released in April by Langer Research Associates found that 62 percent of Americans believe President Trump means it when he talks about running for office again in violation of the Constitution. Some Republicans also support Mr. Trump’s return to power. However, surveys show that 80 percent of Americans oppose this idea.
