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In a phone interview with NBC News, US President Donald Trump stirred controversy by suggesting that he is not ruling out the possibility of running for a third term in 2028. “There are methods” by which a third term could be achieved, he claimed, emphasizing that he was “not joking” about the prospect.
Speaking later to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump expanded on his statement, asserting, “I have had more people ask me to have a third term, which in a way is a fourth term because the other election, the 2020 election, was totally rigged,” he said in reference to the election that he lost against former US president Joe Biden.
The US Constitution, however, presents a significant barrier to his ambitions: the 22nd Amendment, ratified in 1951, explicitly states that “no person shall be elected to the office of the president more than twice.” This amendment was introduced after Franklin D. Roosevelt won four consecutive terms during World War II. The amendment meant to ensure that no future president could hold office indefinitely.
Trump’s comments about extending his presidency are nothing new. Shortly after securing re-election in 2024, he reportedly suggested to House Republicans that he might consider staying in office beyond a second term. While some dismissed the remark as mere “musings” or a “tease”, his latest statements suggest a more serious intent.
Undeterred by the constitution, some conservatives are embracing the idea of Trump extending his presidency. Steve Bannon, Trump’s former chief strategist and host of the right-wing War Room podcast, voiced his support at last month’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), declaring, “We want Trump in ’28.”
Grassroots supporters have also rallied around the notion. Kayla Thompson, a 30-year-old former paralegal from Wisconsin, expressed enthusiasm for another Trump term. “America needs him. America is headed in the right direction, and if he doesn’t do it, we’re probably headed backward,” she said while attending a campaign event featuring Elon Musk.
Trump’s allies have not only embraced his rhetoric but are also taking steps to pave the way for a third term. Earlier this year, Representative Andy Ogles introduced a House Joint Resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution that would allow a president to serve “up to but no more than three terms.” His proposal aims to modify the 22nd Amendment’s wording to state, “No person shall be elected to the office of the president more than three times, nor be elected to any additional term after being elected to two consecutive terms.”
Trump’s comments have drawn criticism from Democratic leaders. Representative Daniel Goldman, who previously served as lead counsel for Trump’s first impeachment proceedings, warned that this is another sign of Trump’s authoritarian ambitions.
“This is yet another escalation in his clear effort to take over the government and dismantle our democracy,” Goldman said in a statement. “If Congressional Republicans believe in the Constitution, they will go on the record opposing Trump’s ambitions for a third term.”
Butch Ware, the Green Party’s 2024 vice-presidential nominee, criticized what he described as Republicans’ greed for power and Democrats’ complacency, in a statement he shared on social media. “Every day brings fresh news of ‘three-term’ Trump wiping his backside with the Constitution to the sound of rousing ‘conservative’ applause,” Ware said. “There is no law they won’t break to conserve white supremacy, and Dems won’t fight because their AIPAC and war profiteer bosses won’t let ‘em.”
Earlier this year, the Associated Press characterized his third-term remarks as “more a tease than a pledge,” but Americans and people worldwide have watched Trump deliver on his sordid campaign promises one executive order at a time.
From using war powers to deport migrants without due process, to lifting restrictions on segregated facilities in federal workplaces, to falsely detaining permanent US residents for exercising their right to free speech , Trump’s presidency has been marked by executive actions that many see as an erosion of constitutional norms and the crumbling of US democracy as they knew it, or thought it to be.
