US President Donald Trump speaks to members of the press while returning to Washington, DC on Air … More
President Trump said in an interview Sunday that he was “not joking” about the possibility of serving a third term in office, despite the Constitution’s 22nd Amendment, which says no person shall be elected President more than twice.
Trump told Kristen Welker, the host of “Meet the Press” that, “there are methods” for seeking a third term, insisting that “a lot of people want me to do it.”
Welker asked the president about a potential scenario that would have Vice President JD Vance run for president in 2028, only to somehow pass the role along to Trump.
“That’s one” method, the president said. “But there are others, too.” Asked if he would describe another way of working around the Constitution’s 22nd Amendment, Trump said “no.”
US President Donald Trump speaks to members of the press while returning to Washington, DC on Air … More
Amending the Constitution to allow Trump to legally seek a third term would require a a two-thirds vote of Congress and then ratification of three-fourths of the states, or two-thirds of the states agreeing to call a constitutional convention to propose the change. Either route would ultimately require ratification from three-quarters of the states.
“Well, let me put it this way. You have to start by saying, I have the highest poll numbers of any Republican for the last 100 years,” Trump told Welker. “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.”
Trump has repeatedly hinted that he’d like to remain in power after the end of his current term, seeming to joke earlier this year that “I think I’m not allowed to run again. I’m not sure. Am I allowed to run again?”
“I’m not joking,” Trump told NBC on Sunday, making his most decisive comments to date on the issue, “but I’m not — it is far too early to think about it.”
MEET THE PRESS — Moderator Kristen Welker Interviews President-Elect Donald Trump — Pictured: … More
Later Sunday, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump was asked about his comments to NBC, suggesting falsely that running again would allow him to serve a “fourth term” in office.
“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, so it’s actually sort of a fourth term,” he said, repeating his false claims about the 2020 election results.
Pressed by reporters about the two-term limit, Trump said “I’m just telling you I have had more people saying, please run again.”
