The US constitution explicitly prohibits presidents from running for a third term, but that hasn’t stopped Donald Trump from raising the issue repeatedly—this time at an official event in the White House.
Earlier, Trump stated last week in front of his supporters at the White House: “Should I run again? Tell me?” to which the crowd responded with chants of “Four more years!”.
The attendees included several political figures and elected officials, such as Republican Senator Tim Scott from South Carolina and Representative John James from Michigan, as well as political appointees and athletes like the famous golfer Tiger Woods.
This raised concerns among some about Trump’s intention to run in the upcoming presidential election in violation of the US Constitution, marking the first time Trump has officially proposed the idea of running for a second term, according to the American newspaper Politico.
The scene occurred amid growing fears that the US president may exercise his presidential powers in ways not permitted by the Constitution.
Boundaries Set by the Constitution
The twenty-second amendment to the Constitution prohibits any American president from being elected for more than two terms, and it has been ratified for about 74 years.
However, Trump’s early actions in office indicated that he was willing to challenge constitutional law, by issuing a freeze on spending for funds allocated by Congress and issuing orders to close departments and seize independent federal agencies.
Hours after Trump’s hints regarding a third term, his former advisor Steve Bannon echoed similar statements, saying, “The future of America is Donald Trump… We want Trump after 2028, that’s what they can’t stand; a man like Trump comes only once or twice in the country’s history… We want Trump!”
History of American Presidents
The possibility of Trump staying in the White House for more than eight years is not historically unprecedented.
The record for the longest-serving American president belongs to Franklin Roosevelt, a Democrat who occupied the White House for four terms from 1932 until his death in 1945.
This prompted Republicans in Congress to seek a constitutional amendment to formalize presidential term limits, which had previously been just a tradition established by George Washington to step down after two terms, although many Republicans sought more.
Both Ulysses Grant and Theodore Roosevelt unsuccessfully sought a third term, and Woodrow Wilson was also planning for it, until he suffered a stroke during his second term, according to Time magazine.
Even after the ratification of the Twenty-Second Amendment in 1951, some presidents hinted at the idea of a third term.
In 1986, Ronald Reagan humorously suggested he had “come to the conclusion that viewing the Twenty-Second Amendment as limiting presidential power is wrong and believes it should be repealed, activating it after leaving office.”
In 2015, former US President Barack Obama stated that he believed he would win if he were able to run for a third term, but said that he could not do so because “the law is the law.”
Trump’s aims for a third term aren’t new
One of the first times Trump suggested extending his presidency after a second term was in 2020, during his re-election campaign in Reno, Nevada.
At that time, Trump said, “We will win Nevada, and we will win four more years in the White House,” adding, “And then we will negotiate… right? Because maybe – based on the way we were treated – we deserve another four years after that.”
In another interview with Time magazine in April 2024, Trump dismissed the idea of challenging the 22nd Amendment, stating: “I will serve one term, I will do a great job, and then I will leave.”
On January 25th, after being inaugurated for a second term, Trump said at an event held in Las Vegas: “It will be the greatest honor of my life to serve, not once but twice – or three times or four times,” in a playful manner.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
