{"id":534698,"date":"2025-10-29T04:37:16","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T04:37:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/534698\/"},"modified":"2025-10-29T04:37:16","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T04:37:16","slug":"trump-2028-could-the-us-president-really-go-for-a-third-term-donald-trump-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/534698\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Trump 2028\u2019: Could the US president really go for a third term? | Donald Trump News"},"content":{"rendered":"

United States President Donald Trump refused to rule out<\/a> a bid for a third presidential term on Monday, despite the US Constitution limiting presidents to two terms of four years each. He is currently serving his second term.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would love to do it,\u201d Trump, 79, told reporters on board Air Force One en route to Japan during his weeklong tour of Asia. \u201cI have my best numbers ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Monday\u2019s indication from Trump, the oldest US president ever to take office, was perhaps the clearest yet among his repeated claims that he might run again for office in 2028 \u2013 when he would be more than 82.<\/p>\n

Trump already has a $50 baseball cap on sale, emblazoned with the slogan \u201cTrump 2028\u201d. The president pointed out a hat with the words \u201cfour more years\u201d \u2013 on display in the White House gift shop, alongside other Trump 2028 hats \u2013 to European leaders Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Emmanuel Macron as they toured the presidential residence in Washington, DC, in August.<\/p>\n

So, how serious might Trump actually be about running in 2028? And can he find a way to do it?<\/p>\n

\"trump\u2018Trump 2028\u2019 hats sit on a filing cabinet in the entrance hall at California Governor Gavin Newsom\u2019s office in Sacramento, California, US, on August 28, 2025 [Fred Greaves\/Reuters]What has Trump said about running for a third term?<\/p>\n

After leaving the summit<\/a> of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Malaysia on Monday, Trump was on board Air Force One when reporters asked questions about the prospect of a 2028 presidential bid.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would love to do it,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAm I not ruling it out? You\u2019ll have to tell me,\u201d Trump said after reporters pressed him on the matter. \u201cAll I can tell you is that we have a great, a great group of people, which they don\u2019t,\u201d he replied, referring to the Democratic Party.<\/p>\n

When confronted with the question of whether he was willing to take the fight for another presidential bid to the courts, Trump responded: \u201cI haven\u2019t really thought about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have some very good people, as you know, but I\u2019ve had, I have the best poll numbers I\u2019ve ever had,\u201d Trump repeated.<\/p>\n

Trump also pondered who might make good Republican candidates for the 2028 presidential contest and named people from his own administration.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have great people. I don\u2019t have to get into that, but we have one of them standing right here. We have, JD, obviously the vice president is great. Marco\u2019s great,\u201d Trump said, referring to Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.<\/p>\n

Trump also shared that, regarding the health tests he underwent at Walter Reed hospital earlier this month, \u201cthe doctor said some of the best reports for the age, some of the best reports they\u2019ve ever seen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was perfect,\u201d the president said.<\/p>\n

\"trumpUS President Donald Trump reviews an honour guard, on the day of a bilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, at Akasaka Palace in Tokyo, Japan, October 28, 2025 [Evelyn Hockstein\/Reuters]What does the US Constitution say about all this?<\/p>\n

The US Constitution clearly bars any candidate from holding the office of president for a third time. Amendment 22 of the Constitution states: \u201cNo person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Constitutional experts say there is no way around it.<\/p>\n

The 22nd Amendment was passed by Congress in 1947 and later ratified in 1951. It was a direct response to the presidency of Franklin D Roosevelt, a Democrat who was president during World War II. Roosevelt took the office four times \u2013 1932, 1936, 1940 and 1944.<\/p>\n

He died months into his fourth term in 1945.<\/p>\n

Wayne Unger, a law professor at Quinnipiac University, told the Reuters news agency that while the amendment has never been tested in court, any challenge by Trump would likely be unsuccessful.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would predict the Supreme Court to say nope, it\u2019s clear, two terms of four years each, Donald Trump, you cannot run for a third,\u201d said Unger, who teaches constitutional law.<\/p>\n

What would it take to change the 22nd Amendment?<\/p>\n

Before Roosevelt, presidents followed George Washington\u2019s two-term precedent voluntarily.<\/p>\n

To protect against over-concentration of power, the Republicans had proposed the amendment limiting the election to two times.<\/p>\n

To amend it again, the proposal would require an approval by two-thirds of Congress and to be ratified by three-quarters of states (38 out of 50 states) \u2013 an extremely high bar.<\/p>\n

Currently, Trump\u2019s party holds a razor-thin 219-213 majority in the House and a 53-47 majority in the Senate, while the Republicans control 28 state legislatures.<\/p>\n

\"trumpDonald Trump leaves his plane upon arrival in Indianapolis, Indiana, US, on December 1, 2016 \u2013 one month before he took office for his first term as president [Mike Segar\/Reuters]Are there ways around this, such as running for vice president instead?<\/p>\n

Constitutional experts say there is no way to skirt the laws and assume office for a third time.<\/p>\n

MAGA supporters and leaders from Trump\u2019s camp have suggested he run as vice president and then have the candidate for president resign after taking the office, which would install him in the White House again.<\/p>\n

This is somewhat like the Netflix hit House of Cards, in which the lead character, Frank Underwood, played by Kevin Spacey, becomes president through manipulation and political scheming. \u201cOne heartbeat away from the presidency, and not a single vote cast in my name,\u201d he says, famously. \u201cDemocracy is so overrated.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Trump dismissed that MAGA musing on Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d be allowed to do that,\u201d Trump said in an exchange with reporters. But he said he thinks \u201cit\u2019s too cute.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the people wouldn\u2019t like that. It\u2019s too cute. It\u2019s not \u2013 it wouldn\u2019t be right,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In theory, Trump is barred from running for vice president as well because he is not eligible to be president. The 12th Amendment to the Constitution notes that no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of president shall be eligible for that of vice president of the US.<\/p>\n

How has Trump changed his stance on this over time?<\/p>\n

It all began with a musing at a private fundraiser for Republican donors in 2018, when President Trump, in his first term, praised China\u2019s Xi Jinping for becoming \u201cpresident for life\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s great. Maybe we\u2019ll give that a shot someday,\u201d he said, reportedly drawing laughter and applause.<\/p>\n

Then, speaking at a Turning Point USA summit, hosted by the late Charlie Kirk<\/a>, a delighted crowd chanted \u201cfour more years\u201d. Trump expressed his gratitude, then added: \u201cNow, if you want to drive them crazy, go, \u201816 more years. Sixteen more years!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

He repeated the drill, in August 2020, at a campaign event in Charlotte, North Carolina, urging the crowd: \u201cIf you really wanna drive \u2019em crazy, say \u201912 more years\u2019!\u201d<\/p>\n

Since he assumed office for his second term as president in January this year, he has been musing on this issue more often.<\/p>\n

In an interview with NBC News in April, Trump said there were \u201cmethods\u201d for him to potentially serve again, without explaining further. Later that month, Trump told Time magazine that his team had explored possible legal pathways to a third term.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are some loopholes that have been discussed. But I don\u2019t believe in loopholes,\u201d he said, without specifying what they were.<\/p>\n

The following month, however, in another NBC interview, Trump walked this back, saying: \u201cThis is not something I\u2019m looking to do,\u201d referring to a third bid for office.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m looking to have four great years and turn it over to somebody \u2013 ideally a great Republican \u2013 to carry it forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

But then he appeared to be back at it again, flaunting the \u201cTrump 2028\u201d merchandise to European leaders at the White House and his glowing hospital results to reporters on Air Force One, deeming himself fit for another shot at the office.<\/p>\n

\"trumpA Trump supporter wears a \u2018Trump 2028\u2019 cap at the Saudi-US Investment Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on May 13, 2025 [Hamad I Mohammed\/Reuters]How popular is Trump right now?<\/p>\n

Polling aggregators suggest that the US president\u2019s approval ratings have been declining since he took office in January, falling from as high as 52 percent.<\/p>\n

A Quinnipiac poll released last week found only 40 percent of voters approve of Trump as president, compared with 54 percent who disapprove. A Reuters\/Ipsos poll showed Trump\u2019s net unfavourability with a 56 percent disapproval rating.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s average approval numbers have been rated to be the lowest among US presidents, according to Gallup polling, the longest-running presidential pollster since the 1940s.<\/p>\n

According to a survey\u00a0released by Langer Research Associates in April, 62 percent of Americans believe Trump is serious when he talks about running again in violation of the Constitution. Some Republican lawmakers have also backed Trump\u2019s bid for another turn at the office. However, 80 percent of Americans oppose this idea, according to the survey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"United States President Donald Trump refused to rule out a bid for a third presidential term on Monday,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":534699,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[32,33,13641,12,49,286,26],"class_list":{"0":"post-534698","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-donald-trump","9":"tag-elections","10":"tag-explainer","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-us-canada","14":"tag-world"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115455606549040784","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/534698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=534698"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/534698\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/534699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=534698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=534698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=534698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}