President Donald Trump on Tuesday dismissed the possibility of running for a third term in 2028, stating that "the law is very strong" against such a bid. Trump made the comments to reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.
"Everybody asks me that question, and you know that the law is very strong on that," Trump said. "I'd love to run, but the law is very strong."
Trump referred to the 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which limits a president to two elected terms. The amendment was ratified in 1951, following the unprecedented four terms served by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Previously, Trump has alluded to seeking a third term, sometimes with humor and other times with more seriousness. At the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner on July 24, 2026, he joked, "Just like my presidency, the second time is always better. It's always better. And the third time will be better yet. I'm only kidding."
However, in an interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker on March 30, 2025, Trump stated he was "not joking" about a third term. He suggested a potential scenario where Vice President JD Vance could run for president, with Trump as his running mate. If they won, Trump posited that Vance could resign, allowing Trump, as vice president, to succeed him and potentially circumvent the 22nd Amendment. Constitutional scholars, such as Princeton University law professor Deborah Pearlstein, have largely dismissed this idea, citing the 12th Amendment. The 12th Amendment states, "no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States."
![President Donald Trump wears a "Trump 2028" hat while he speaks during the 2026 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, D.C. on July 24, 2026.]( "President Donald Trump wears a "Trump 2028" hat while he speaks during the 2026 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, D.C. on July 24, 2026.")
