President Trump is leaving the door open to the idea of seeking a third term — even though that door is apparently firmly closed by the Constitution.
His suggestion is eliciting divergent reactions among Democrats and liberals. Some see the speculation over a third term as part of an ominous, autocratic push by the president.
Other see a diversionary tactic or simple attention-trolling, as other stories including ‘Signalgate’ and a stumbling stock market afflict Trump.
Trump has alluded to a third term before. It’s never been quite clear whether he’s joking.
But the most recent speculation was sparked by an interview with NBC News broadcast over the weekend. Trump directly insisted he was not kidding.
“A lot of people want me to do it,” Trump told host Kristen Welker. He also told Welker there were “methods which you could do it.”
The president did not outline the full gamut of supposed options, but he did say that a possibility his allies have floated — having Vice President Vance run as the GOP presidential nominee in 2028, win, and then pass power back to Trump — was one possibility.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday aboard Air Force One, the president seemed to inch away from the idea again, while not abandoning it entirely.
“I don't even want to talk about it. I'm just telling you I have had more people saying, 'Please run again.' We have a long way to go before we even think about that, but I've had a lot of people [say that],” Trump insisted.
Some Democrats rang the alarm about Trump’s suggestion.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) wrote on social media, “So, that’s actually not allowed…The Constitution isn’t optional, sir. This isn’t a reality show – it’s reality. Two terms, that’s it.”
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) released a statement insisting that “Trump was never joking about trying to serve an unconstitutional third term.”
He added, “This is yet another escalation in his clear effort to take over the government and dismantle our democracy.”
It’s also true that some of Trump’s previous ideas have moved from the realm of the apparently unserious to at least within the bounds of possibility. The most recent example is his suggestion that the United States should somehow gain control of Greenland. This was greeted with bemusement when it was floated during his first term. These days, it’s not dismissed so lightly. Vance visited an American base in the arctic territory last week, making the case Greenland would fare better with the U.S.
The constitutional blockage to Trump, or anyone else, seeking a third term appears absolute, however.
The 22nd Amendment, passed after President Franklin D. Roosevelt won a fourth term in 1944, states: “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.”
The idea that Trump could retake the reins of power by having Vance, or some other placeholder, run, win and then cede the Oval Office back to him faces its own high hurdle.
The 12th Amendment states: “No person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.” That would seem, rather unambiguously, to take Trump out of contention come 2028.
There are other more practical concerns, too. The president, now 78, is the oldest person ever elected to a second term. He is the second-oldest president ever, next to former President Biden. He would be 82 by the time of the 2028 election and 86 by the time a hypothetical but highly unlikely third term ended.
That’s why some Democrats and liberals contend Trump is simply trying to change the subject with his talk of a third run.
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