Trump refuses to rule out 2028 run for White House

President Donald Trump has once again raised the prospect of serving a third term, telling reporters aboard Air Force One that he “would love to do it.”

During a chat with reporters while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Tokyo on October 27, Trump was asked whether he was considering another run for the White House in 2028.

“I would love to do it. I have my best numbers ever,” he said. Pressed on whether he was ruling out a third bid, Trump responded: “Am I not ruling it out? I mean, you’ll have to tell me.”

The remarks echoed similar comments he made earlier in March, when he told NBC’s Kristen Welker, “I’m not joking,” about the idea of running for a third term.

Trump also addressed speculation that he might attempt to sidestep the two-term restriction by running as vice-president in 2028, a strategy some allies have floated. He flatly rejected the idea.

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

Under the Twenty-second Amendment, ratified in 1951 after Franklin D. Roosevelt’s four terms, “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.”

Because Trump has already been elected in 2016 and 2024, constitutional scholars stress he is barred from running for a third term. The Twelfth Amendment also makes clear that “no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President,” effectively closing the door on the succession workaround.

Legal experts say the only way forward would be a constitutional amendment — requiring two-thirds support in both chambers of Congress and ratification by 38 states — an outcome viewed as politically implausible.

Trump’s teasing of a third term appears to be more about political signaling than concrete plans. Allies such as Steve Bannon have suggested that “he’s going to get a third term... People ought to just get accommodated with that.”

But critics argue the rhetoric undermines democratic norms. “The Constitution is rarely as clear about anything as it is about the prohibition against presidents serving more than two terms,” one scholar noted.

For Trump, however, simply keeping the idea alive may bolster his standing within the party, reassure loyal supporters, and keep rivals guessing.