U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday morning refused to rule out the idea of seeking a constitutionally prohibited third term in office, telling NBC News’ Kristen Welker in a phone call that “there are methods” for doing so.
“You have to start by saying, I have the highest poll numbers of any Republican for the last 100 years,” Trump said. “We’re in the high 70s in many polls, in the real polls, and you see that. And, and you know, we’re very popular. And you know, a lot of people would like me to do that. But, I mean, I basically tell them, we have a long way to go, you know, it’s very early in the administration.”
Any push by Trump or his allies to get the President into the Oval for a third time would run directly counter to the Constitution’s 22nd Amendment, which decrees that “no person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice” and makes no exception for presidents like Trump elected to non-consecutive terms. The amendment was enacted in 1951, largely at the behest of Republicans who had been displeased that President Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected four times.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Top ally Steve Bannon, who regularly holds court with MAGA hardliners in his War Room podcast, in December suggested Trump could credibly seek another term in 2028. He’s continued that push in the months since.
Trump too has leaned into the idea.
“Well, there are plans,” he told Welker on Sunday. “There are — not plans. There are, there are methods which you could do it, as you know.”
In one moment during the phone call, Welker asked Trump if he’d considered having Vice President JD Vance run in 2028 only to cede the job back to Trump after presumably winning the election.
“Well, that’s one,” Trump said. “But there are others too. There are others.”
