A THIRD term? President Trump weighs in on possibility of a 2028 run

President Donald Trump this week answered a question that’s popular with his most ardent supporters: would it be possible for him to run for a third presidential term in 2028?

Opinion–Analysis by Summer Lane | October 27, 2025

President Donald Trump has often been asked whether he could run for a third presidential term in 2028, and this week, he had an answer for those who may wish that his leadership could last longer than just one term.

While speaking to the press aboard Air Force One, President Trump was asked whether he could run for a third term if he technically ran as a vice presidential candidate.

“Yeah, I’d be allowed to do that,” he said. “But…I wouldn’t do that. It’s too cute. I think the people wouldn’t like that…it wouldn’t be right.”

He also remarked, somewhat facetiously, that he had his “best numbers ever” during this term – referring to his soaring approval ratings with American voters – and said of being a third-term president, “I would love to do it…Am I NOT ruling it out? You’ll have to tell me. All I can tell you is that we have a great group of people.”

President Trump has regularly offered ambiguous comments on this subject, sparking widespread speculation about whether a 2028 run could be possible. However, the Twenty-Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution bars any president from seeking more than two total terms in office.

This amendment was ratified in 1951, following President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s four election wins. His consecutive terms led to widespread concerns about whether long-lasting administrations could lead to troubling power consolidation.

In March, President Donald Trump again addressed the possibility of a third presidential term while speaking to NBC News on the phone. He remarked, “A lot of people want me to do it. But, I mean, I basically tell them we have a long way to go, you know, it’s very early in the administration.”

He also told the outlet, “There are methods which you could do it.”            

While President Donald Trump is highly unlikely to seriously attempt to seek a third term, some allies have suggested that it may happen.

“He’s going to get a third term…people ought to just get accommodated with that,” claimed Steve Bannon, the host of “War Room.”

He said, “He is a vehicle of divine providence, he’s an instrument. He’s very imperfect, he’s not churchy, but he’s an instrument of divine will…we need him for at least one more term.”

Bannon was not clear about how such a feat could be achieved, in light of the Twenty-Second Amendment.

In sum, it seems that the suggestion of a “third term” is little more than a talking point often repeated by the mainstream media to stoke hysteria among President Trump’s opposition, and President Trump – who often toys with the media’s talking points – is just having fun with it.

Strictly speaking, the real possibility of President Trump serving a third term is essentially impossible.

These are the only remotely viable pathways to running for a third term, but again, there is little substantive value to such suggestions, because the U.S. Constitution is clear about this issue:

• The abolishment of the Twenty-Second Amendment (this would be virtually impossible, so it has little validity as a theory),
• Running as a vice-presidential candidate (which the president has already said he will not do),
• Refusing to leave office and short-circuiting the tradition of a peaceful transfer of power (President Trump has demonstrated that he is not this kind of leader, so it appears to be a non-point),
• Running for a third term (technically impossible, because of the Twenty-Second Amendment, which may not “technically” ban a campaign, but it does ban one’s ability to be “elected to the office of the President more than twice.”)

President Trump may not net a third legal term in office, but if Vice President J.D. Vance runs for the Oval Office in 2028, Trump’s America First agenda and vision will continue for at least eight more years into the future.

That is the real possibility that should excite everyone – not finding ways to subvert the Twenty-Second Amendment, despite how much the American people love President Trump.

President Trump is the most important president this nation has had in over a century, and his legacy and leadership will serve as an example for many leaders to come.

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