WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Donald Trump indicated on Sunday that he is seriously exploring options to bypass the constitutional rule that prevents him from serving more than two terms as president, stating, “I’m not joking” about seeking a third term. His second term is set to conclude in early 2029.
“There are methods which you could do it,” Trump said in a telephone interview with NBC News from Mar-a-Lago, his private club.
He also mentioned that “it is far too early to consider it.”
The 22nd Amendment, ratified after Franklin D. Roosevelt’s four consecutive presidential wins, restricts any individual from being elected president more than twice.
Any effort to stay in office beyond two terms would face legal challenges. The seriousness with which he might pursue this idea remains uncertain. Nevertheless, these remarks highlight his desire to retain power, especially considering his previous attempts to subvert democratic norms by trying to overturn the 2020 election won by Joe Biden.
Kristen Welker of NBC inquired whether one possibility for a third term involved J.D. Vance, the Vice President, running for president and subsequently “passing the baton” to Trump.
Trump responded, “Well, that’s one. But there are others too. There are others.”
“Can you tell me another?” Welker asked.
“No,” Trump replied.
The Associated Press’s request for comment from Vance’s office went unanswered immediately.
Derek Muller, a law professor at Notre Dame, pointed out that the 12th Amendment, ratified in 1804, stipulates that “no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.”
Muller explained that this implies Trump’s ineligibility to run for Vice President if the 22nd Amendment prevents him from seeking the presidency again.
“I don’t think there’s any ‘one weird trick’ to getting around presidential term limits,” Muller stated.
Furthermore, securing a third term would require significant cooperation from federal and state officials, as well as the courts and the electorate.
He proposed that Trump’s discussion of a third term is a political strategy to “show as much strength as possible.”
“A lame-duck President like Donald Trump has every incentive in the world to make it seem like he’s not a lame duck,” he added.
Trump, who will be 82 at the end of a potential second term, was asked if he would want to continue in “the toughest job in the country” at that age.
“Well, I like working,” the President answered.
He implied that Americans would accept a third term due to his popularity and falsely claimed to have “the highest poll numbers of any Republican for the last 100 years.”
Historical data indicates that President George W. Bush reached a 90% approval rating following the September 11, 2001 attacks. His father, President George H.W. Bush, achieved 89% after the Gulf War in 1991.
Trump’s Gallup data peaked at 47% during his second term, despite his assertion of being “in the high 70s in many polls, in the real polls.”
Trump has previously alluded to the possibility of serving more than two terms, often jokingly, to receptive audiences.
“Am I allowed to run again?” he said during a House Republican retreat in January.
Requests for comment from the congressional leadership — House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York — were not immediately answered by their representatives when contacted by the AP.
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