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Trump’s “third term” comments, briefly explained
How serious is the president about running for an unconstitutional third term in office?
Patrick Reis was the senior politics and ideas editor at Vox. He previously worked at Rolling Stone, the Washington Post, Politico, National Journal, and Seattle’s Real Change News. As a reporter and editor, he has worked on coverage of campaign politics, economic policy, the federal death penalty, climate change, financial regulation, and homelessness.
Welcome to The Logoff: Today, I’m focusing on Donald Trump’s comments about a third presidential term and what we should make of them.
What exactly did Trump say?
- Asked about seeking a third term, Trump told NBC: “A lot of people would like me to do that. But, I mean, I basically tell them: ‘We have a long way to go, you know. It’s very early in the administration.’”
- About whether he’d been presented with “potential plans” for a third term: “Well, there are plans. There are — not plans. There are, there are methods which you could do it.”
- Asked about a specific scenario where Vice President JD Vance wins in 2028 and passes the baton back to Trump: “Well, that’s one. But there are others too.” (He declined to name the others.)
- About whether he was serious: “No, no, I’m not joking.” (Check the transcript here.)
Could he do that? The Constitution’s 22nd amendment says, “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.” Trump was elected in 2016 and 2024 and does not have the support he needs to change or repeal that amendment. To serve a third term, Trump would have to violate the Constitution.
So is this a crisis for our democracy? If Trump said he was definitely running for a third term or took any steps in that direction, it would be a full-blown and immediate crisis — a president stating his intention to remain in power regardless of a constitutional prohibition. This isn’t that, but by even asserting a right to serve a third term, Trump is opening the door. That alone is concerning, and a reason to watch this topic extremely closely.
And with that, it’s time to log off…
“This past fall, I set out to get rejected as often as I could.” That’s the opening line to this excellent Vox piece about how to view rejection not as failure, but as a step toward success. That’s helpful advice as we pursue our goals — not just for ourselves, but for our families, communities, and countries. Thanks for reading. See you back here tomorrow.
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