President Donald Trump told reporters early Monday morning that he would “love to” run for president in 2028, a remark that comes shortly after a key ally revealed that there was already a “plan” in place to circumvent the constitutional amendment that prohibits presidents from serving more than two terms in the White House.
“I would love to do it – I have the best numbers ever!” Trump told reporters Monday while aboard Air Force One on whether he was considering a third run for office, Politico reported. “Am I not ruling it out? You’ll have to tell me.”
Despite the 22nd Amendment of the Constitution explicitly prohibiting an individual from being “elected” to the office of the president more than twice, Trump has repeatedly floated the idea of running for office a third time. Last week, Trump’s former White House chief of staff Steve Bannon bluntly predicted that Trump “is going to be president in 2028,” calling the president an “instrument of divine will.”
As to how Trump could circumvent the Constitution to achieve his aspirations for a third term, Bannon was cagey on the details, telling The Economist that there were “many different alternatives” to allow Trump to remain in the White House, and that his allies would, “at the appropriate time, lay out the plan.”
One theory floated by Trump allies to see the president remain in office has been for Trump to run as Vice President JD Vance’s running mate, who could then, in theory, step down from the position and hand Trump the presidency yet again. However, legal experts have called this theory “nonsense,” with many arguing that despite the 22nd Amendment’s wording, the intent of the authors of the 22nd Amendment was a clear effort to prevent a person from serving a third term as president.