The Constitution explicitly states in the 22nd Amendment, “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.”
President Donald Trump has insisted that he wants to run for a third term despite what the Constitution says, stating he was “not joking” about it. In an interview with NBC News, he stated that he knows of a loophole within the 22nd Amendment that would allow him to serve as the 48th president, although he refused to describe any.
NBC News asked about a possible scenario in which Vice President JD Vance would run for office and then pass the role to Trump. Trump responded that “that’s one” method.
“A lot of people want me to do it,” Trump said in the interview. “But, I mean, I basically tell them we have a long way to go, you know, it’s very early in the administration.”
It is possible to abolish the 22nd amendment, but for that to occur, two-thirds of either Congress or the states would have to agree to a Constitutional Convention and then remove the Amendment after three-quarters of the states agree.
Republican Representatives have already called for the extension of presidential term limits. Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee is one such supporter of a third term and crafted a resolution to extend the limit.
In an interview with News Nation, Steve Bannon, a close ally of Trump, expressed that Trump will “run and win again in 2028.” Bannon also mentioned that he expects “a couple of alternatives” to emerge in the discussion of how Trump might pursue a third term, despite the constitutional limit of two terms for the presidency.
Other Republicans are not as supportive of a third Trump presidency. Fox News analyst Jonathan Turley said President Trump toying with the idea of a third term is not fair to potential Republican successors like Vice President Vance.
After Trump is retired from his political career or is deceased, there will be no one that Republican Party can fall back on, and extending Trump’s campaign even further will cripple the Republican party because most Republicans are Trump supporters, and only support Trump instead of the entire party.
Some also theorize that this outlandish claim could be a distraction for recent controversies, such as the leaked group chat messages detailing an upcoming military operation on Signal.