President Trump — in a comment that is making liberal commentators apoplectic Sunday — is insisting that he is “not joking” about possibly seeking a third term in the White House despite the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution.
A White House spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment about whether the president was merely toying with the interviewer. In the past, he has frequently cracked jokes in public remarks about how he might extend his presidency into a third term.
In recent months, on the fringes of the conservative movement, some Republicans have embraced the idea that the 22nd Amendment does not, in fact, bar Mr. Trump from occupying the White House for 12 years.
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The president was asked about how that might happen during an interview with NBC News on Sunday. He was presented with the possibility of being elected vice president in 2028 with Vice President Vance leading the ticket. Following the inauguration, in this scenario, Mr. Vance would resign the presidency, allowing Mr. Trump to take office as president for a third time.
“Well, that’s one,” Mr. Trump said of the possibility. “But there are others too. There are others.” When asked to elaborate, Mr. Trump said he would not. “I’m not joking,” Mr. Trump then insisted, despite the fact that he has often mused about a third term during his rallies as an applause line. “I’m not joking,” he repeated.
“A lot of people want me to do it,” Mr. Trump added, according to NBC’s account of the interview. “But, I mean, I basically tell them we have a long way to go, you know, it’s very early in the administration.”
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Speaking to House Republicans back in January, Mr. Trump mentioned his hefty campaign war chest, which still contains millions of dollars. “I’ve raised a lot of money for the next race that I assume I can’t use for myself, but I’m not 100 percent sure,” Mr. Trump said to lawmakers. “I think I’m not allowed to run again.”
“Am I allowed to run again?” the president asked.
One of the most well-known groups advocating for another Trump term is the Third Term Project, which was featured at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference this year. The group lists four ways that the president could hypothetically seek another four years, including the idea that Mr. Trump could take the vice presidential slot in 2028.
“President Trump can run as Vice President with a space filler as President in 2028. Perhaps Donald Trump Jr. could run on a Trump/Trump ticket before gracefully resigning on Jan. 21, 2028 after securing victory,” the group states on their website. “This plan … would show that MAGA cannot be stopped by any procedural rule.”
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Congressman Andy Ogles has already introduced a proposed constitutional amendment in the House, which explicitly states that presidents may seek additional terms so long as they have not already served for eight years straight in the White House. Even though such a proposal would almost certainly never be ratified in Congress or in the requisite number of states, such a change would allow Mr. Trump — but not his predecessors, who served consecutive terms — to seek a third term.
Many liberal commentators expressed deep alarm at the president’s claims on Sunday, despite his past jokes about the matter. “I think we’re at the point where take him ‘seriously but not literally’ is null and void?” wrote Fox News’s Jessica Tarlov, the network’s star Democrat.
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