US President Donald Trump once again opened the door to debate about the possibility of him remaining in the White House for a third term, declaring that he would be “very happy” to run again if the restrictions preventing that were changed.
During a political rally in South Carolina, Trump said to his supporters: “Unfortunately, we have some rules and regulations that prevent running for a third time. “If they wanted to change that, I would be very happy.”
Trump’s statements came during an election campaign in Myrtle Beach to support Republican Senator Darlene Graham in the Senate race, at a time when the president is intensifying his moves to support Republican Party candidates before the midterm elections next November.
These statements bring back to the forefront an issue that has preoccupied American political and legal circles repeatedly since Trump returned to the White House, as he had previously hinted at the possibility of running in the 2028 elections, and talked about the existence of “ways” that might allow this, despite the clear constitutional obstacle to his direct election for a new term.
The 22nd Amendment to the US Constitution explicitly states that “no person may be elected to the office of president more than twice,” which means that Trump, who was elected president in 2016 and then won in 2024, cannot, according to the current text, be elected a third time.
Changing this restriction by amending the Constitution requires an extremely difficult path, which begins with obtaining the approval of two-thirds of the members of the House of Representatives and the Senate, then the ratification of three-quarters of the American states, that is, 38 states.
On January 23, 2025, Republican Representative Andy Ogles submitted a draft constitutional amendment that would allow the president to be elected a maximum of three times, provided that the three terms are not consecutive. This is a formula designed to open the way for Trump in particular, after his two terms were not consecutive.
However, according to the record published on the Congress website, the draft did not go beyond the stage of submission and referral to the Judiciary Committee in the House of Representatives, which reflects the extent of the political difficulty facing any attempt to change the 22nd Amendment.
Limiting presidential terms to two terms dates back to the period after President Franklin Roosevelt, who was elected 4 times, before the 22nd Amendment was approved and became part of the American Constitution.
From a legal standpoint, the Congressional Explanation of the Constitution indicates that the wording of the 22nd Amendment specifically prohibits a person from being “elected” to the presidency more than twice, which over the years has led to theoretical legal discussions about other scenarios for reaching office through presidential succession, but these issues have not been judicially tested and do not constitute a clear path to a third term.
Trump’s statements come as talk has already begun within the Republican Party about the 2028 elections and who could succeed him, with the name of his deputy Jay DeVance emerging at the forefront of the potential candidates.
But Trump, by re-presenting the idea of a third term to his supporters, kept the question open about his political plans after the end of his current term, even though the constitutional path to his candidacy again remains, according to existing rules, closed unless an exceptional change occurs in the US Constitution.
