President Donald Trump has raised the possibility of methods that could allow him to serve a third White House term but in an interview the politician avoided committing himself to any such plan, saying he is focused on the current.
“A lot of people would like me to do that,” Trump told NBC News while talking about the possibility of a third presidential run.
“But, I mean, I basically tell them, we have a long way to go, you know, it’s very early in the administration.”
Questioned directly if he was joking about another White House campaign past his second term due to conclude in January 2029, Trump, 78, replied: “No, no I’m not joking.”
The U.S. Constitution bars Americans from serving more than two White House terms, with the the 22nd Amendment, categorically stating that “no person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.”
The amendment was made part of the Constitution in 1951 after President Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected for the fourth consecutive term.
After his remarks made to the NBC from his Florida Sunday, journalists asked him a series of questions on the issue.
“We have a long way to go before we can even think about that,” he said on Air Force One on his way back to Washington D.C.
“I’m not looking at that, but I’ll tell you I’ve had more people ask me to have a third term.”
Trump added: “I don’t want to talk about a third term now because no matter how you look at it, we have a long time to go. We have almost four years to go. And that’s a long time.”
Earlier, commenting on the ways he could serve as the president for the third time , Trump told NBC News, “there are methods” – including Vice President J D Vance winning winning an election and then asking Trump to lead.
However, the president did not elaborate on any possible methods.
Some of his supporters have suggested amending the Constitution to pave the way for a third Trump presidential term but in the current political scenario any such effort is likely to remain a distant prospect on the Capitol Hill.
