Republican President Donald Trump said on Sunday, the 30th of March, that he was not joking about the possibility of seeking a third term as President, which is prohibited by the US Constitution, adding that there are methods to do so but that it was too early to think about it, reports Reuters.
Trump, who took office on the 20th of January for his second non-consecutive term in the White House, has hinted at running for a third term, but did not cast doubt on it in a conversation with NBC News.
“No, I’m not joking. I’m not joking,” Trump said, but “it’s too early to think about that”.
“WELL, THERE ARE PLANS,” HE SAID ON SUNDAY. “NOT PLANS, … [BUT] METHODS which you could do it,” DECLINING TO ELABORATE ON SPECIFIC METHODS.
Under the 22nd Amendment to the US Constitution, US presidents can be elected for a maximum of two four-year terms, whether consecutive or not.
To amend the US Constitution, the consent of two-thirds of both Houses of Congress is required. It must then be approved by three-quarters of the 50 state legislatures.
Some Trump allies have floated the idea of Trump remaining in the White House beyond 2028, and the President has also raised the idea on several occasions, apparently to poke at his political opponents.
Trump was 78 years old at the time of his inauguration and became the oldest US President. He would be 82 if he were to take another four-year term after the November 2028 elections.
In 1796, George Washington set himself a limit of only two terms as President. Most US Presidents followed this rule for more than 140 years, until Franklin D. Roosevelt ran for a third term in 1940.
Roosevelt, a Democrat who was President during the Great Depression and the Second World War, broke the tradition and served a third term before dying in 1945 at the start of his fourth term. This led to the adoption of the term limits amendment in 1951.
Steve Bannon, a long-time Trump adviser, said in an interview with NewsNation on the 19th of March that he believes Trump will run again in 2028. Bannon said that he and others were looking at ways to make this happen, including by examining the definition of term limits.
“We’re working on that,” Bannon said.