Trump is considering a third term as president
Trump is considering a third term as president
Donald Trump has stated that he is not joking when he says he intends to serve a third term as President of the United States. The U.S. Constitution states that no person shall be elected more than twice, but some of Trump’s supporters have suggested there might be ways to circumvent this. When asked in an NBC interview about trying to remain in the White House for a third term, Trump said there are ways it can be done.
He added, ‘I’m not joking; a lot of people want me to do it.’
However, he essentially told them that there is a long road ahead, ‘You know, the administration has just started.’ Trump, who will be 82 at the end of his second term, was asked if he still wants to serve in the country’s toughest job. He replied, ‘I love working.’
This was not Donald Trump’s first comment on the matter.
In January, he told his supporters that it would be the greatest honor of his life to serve not once, but twice, or three times, or four times.
But then he said it was a joke for the fake news media.
What does the U.S. Constitution say?
On the surface, it appears that according to the U.S. Constitution, no person can be elected to the presidency for a third time.
The 22nd Amendment states: ‘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.’
Changing the Constitution requires the approval of two-thirds of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, and it must also be ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures. Trump’s Republican Party controls both houses of Congress but does not have the necessary majority. Additionally, the Democratic Party controls the legislatures of 18 out of 50 states.
How could Trump become president for a third term?
Trump’s supporters say there is a legal loophole in the Constitution that has not been tested in court. They argue that the 22nd Amendment explicitly prohibits someone from being elected to more than two presidential terms and says nothing about succession. According to this theory, Trump could run as vice president for another candidate, perhaps his deputy J.D. Vance, in the 2028 election. If they win, the candidate could be sworn into the White House and then immediately resign, allowing Trump to succeed as president.
Steve Bannon, a podcast producer and former senior advisor to Trump, said he believes Trump will run again and win, adding that there are several options to achieve this. Andy Ogles, a Republican representative from Tennessee, proposed in January an amendment to allow a president to serve up to three terms, provided they are not consecutive. This would mean that among all former presidents still alive, only Trump would be eligible.
Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush all served consecutive terms, while Trump won in 2016, lost in 2020, and won again in 2024.
However, the stringent conditions for passing constitutional amendments in America have turned Ogles’ proposal into a fanciful plan, although it has sparked public discussion.
Who opposes Trump’s third term?
Democrats have serious objections. Daniel Goldman, a New York representative who served as a senior advisor in Trump’s first impeachment, says this is a blatant escalation of his efforts to seize power and destroy our democracy. If congressional Republicans believe in the Constitution, they should formally oppose Trump’s aspirations for a third term.
Some members of Trump’s party also believe it’s a bad idea. Markwayne Mullin, a Republican senator from Oklahoma, said in February that he would not support efforts to bring Trump back to the White House. Mullin told NBC, ‘First of all, I’m not changing the Constitution unless the American people want it.’
What do legal experts say?
Derek Muller, a professor of election law at Notre Dame University, said the 12th Amendment to the Constitution states that no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice President of the United States. This means that serving two terms as president disqualifies anyone from running for vice president.
He said, ‘I don’t think there’s any strange trick to bypass the existing term limits for the presidency.’ Jeremy Paul, a professor of constitutional law at Northeastern University in Boston, told CBS that there is no valid legal argument for a third term.
Has anyone served more than two terms as U.S. president?
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected four times. He died in April 1945, three months into his fourth term. The Great Depression and World War II marked Roosevelt’s presidency, and these crises are often cited as reasons for his extended time in office.
At that time, the two-term limit for U.S. presidents had not been codified into law but was a tradition followed since George Washington declined a third term in 1796. Roosevelt’s long presidency led to this tradition being codified into law in the early 1950s with the 22nd Amendment.