From "Third Term" Remarks to the "2028" Hat... Trump Frequently Mentions Running Again

U.S. President Donald Trump has once again raised the prospect of running in the 2028 presidential election. However, under current law, it is not possible for him to run for a third term as president through the ordinary election process.

AP Yonhap News

According to foreign media reports on July 27, President Trump, at the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) dinner held on July 24 (local time), pulled out a "Trump 2028" hat and declared, "Tonight, to show how much I value the media and to keep up your ratings, I will break an exclusive: I am going to run for a fourth term as President of the United States."

He continued, "I have won three times and I will win again." This repeated his claim that he won not only the 2016 and 2024 elections, but also the 2020 race, insisting the result was stolen by election fraud. President Trump had previously stated, "The second time as president is always better; the third time would be even better," later adding, "I'm just joking."

Under the U.S. Constitution, it is impossible for President Trump to run and be elected as president again. The 22nd Amendment states that no one can be elected president more than twice. To allow a third term, a new constitutional amendment revising or repealing the 22nd Amendment would be required. Amending the U.S. Constitution generally requires approval from two-thirds of members present in both the Senate and House of Representatives, followed by ratification from three-fourths of all states. There is also a method that allows a constitutional convention if two-thirds of all states call for one, but this has never been used to date.

Despite this, President Trump has repeatedly brought up the possibility of a third term since returning to power. In a March interview last year with NBC News, asked if his mention of a third term was a joke, he replied, "No, it's not a joke," but added, "It's too early to think about that now." He claimed there are "ways" to make a third term possible.

He made a similar joke during a meeting at the White House with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in August last year. When President Zelensky explained that elections cannot be held during wartime, President Trump responded, "So, if we are at war with someone in three and a half years, does that mean there will be no election? Oh, that's nice."

In Ukraine, presidential elections are prohibited under martial law. President Zelensky's term ended in May 2024, but the Ukrainian Constitution stipulates that the incumbent president continues to function until a new president is inaugurated. President Trump made a joke referencing this situation by comparing it to the U.S. 2028 presidential election.

Most of President Trump's remarks about a potential third term have quickly been walked back as jokes. However, in his NBC News interview, he insisted it was not a joke and suggested there might be ways to bypass constitutional limitations, prompting speculation about his real intentions. One scenario discussed was that Vice President J.D. Vance could be elected president in 2028, then resign, allowing President Trump, as vice president, to succeed to the presidency. When the NBC News host brought up this scenario, President Trump said, "That’s one way to do it."

This strategy relies on the fact that the 22nd Amendment only prohibits being elected a third time as president, without explicitly forbidding presidential succession. However, the 12th Amendment states that no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of president shall be eligible to that of vice president. Therefore, if President Trump, having already been elected president twice, is interpreted as being ineligible for the presidency, he also cannot be chosen as a candidate for vice president.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.