Power Grab/Fire anyone who can stop him
Trump tells NBC he is “not joking” about a third term and declines to say he will leave office in 2029
The 22nd Amendment bars anyone from being elected president more than twice. Seven months later Trump said, “I’m not allowed to run.”
What happened
In a March 30, 2025 interview with NBC News, Trump said he was “not joking” about seeking a third term and that “there are methods which you could do it.” He called a scenario in which Vice President JD Vance runs and then hands him the office “one” method, and declined to name others. He added it was “far too early to think about it.”
That evening aboard Air Force One, Trump said, “I’m not looking at that, but I’ll tell you I’ve had more people ask me to have a third term.” He declined to confirm that he would leave the White House when his second term ends on January 20, 2029. The 22nd Amendment, ratified in 1951, says no person shall be elected president more than twice.
On October 28, 2025, Trump said: “It’s pretty clear. I’m not allowed to run. It’s too bad.” Rep. Andy Ogles had introduced a resolution in January 2025 to amend the Constitution to permit a third nonconsecutive term. Trump had made similar remarks to House Republicans in November 2024.
Who benefited
Trump benefits from every day the question stays open. An open-ended answer about leaving office keeps alive the possibility that he is not a lame duck, which extends his leverage over Republicans in Congress, a point NYU’s Stephen Gillers made to NPR.
Who wanted something
Trump raised the subject himself and declined chances to close it. He told reporters more people had asked him to run. Rep. Andy Ogles had already filed a constitutional amendment to allow a third nonconsecutive term. No administration official was reported pushing a specific plan.
Who lost out
Voters would face doubt about whether 2028 is a real succession, and election officials and courts would have to adjudicate any attempt. The norm that a president leaves after two terms, kept by custom since Washington and by amendment since 1951, is the thing being tested.
Why it matters
A sitting president said he might not leave on the constitutional date, and put the Supreme Court, state election officials and Congress on notice that the limit could be contested. Scholars told NPR the vice-presidential route is a long-discussed loophole built on the word “elected,” and pointed to the 12th Amendment’s bar on anyone ineligible for the presidency serving as vice president.