Johnson claims Trump 'trolling' on major constitutional question

President Donald Trump has repeatedly talked about running for a third term, but Speaker of the House Mike Johnson does not appear to be taking him very seriously.

“I would love to do it,” Trump recently told reporters.

“Trump again declines to rule out unconstitutional third term,” Axios reported on Monday, adding: “Trump has said he’s ‘not joking’ about a third term.”

The U.S. Constitution is clear.

“The 22nd Amendment plainly states that no one can be elected president more than twice,” The New York Times reported.

Trump’s allies have also been pushing for a third term.

Steve Bannon, in particular, has recently said they are looking at ways to have him run in 2028.

“Trump is going to be president in ’28,” Bannon said. “At the appropriate time, we’ll lay out what the plan is.”

Asked on Tuesday about the President running for a third term, the Speaker of the House, a constitutional attorney, appeared to smirk before pushing back.

“Well, there is the 22nd Amendment,” Johnson told reporters. “I spoke with the president about an hour ago. It’s late in the evening in Japan. He’s working around the clock, serving the American people.”

After rattling off a list of how the Republican Party under Trump has “delivered,” while neglecting to mention that the federal government has been shut down for four weeks, Johnson added: “It’s been a great run, but I think the president knows, and he and I have talked about the constrictions of the Constitution.”

“As much as so many American people lament that, the ‘Trump 2028’ cap is one of the most popular that’s ever been produced,” he observed. “And he has a good time with that trolling the Democrats, whose hair is on fire, about the very prospect.”

“I do believe that we’ve got three extraordinary years ahead of us,” he projected. “And, I don’t see a way to amend the Constitution, because it takes about ten years to do that, as you all know, to allow all the states to ratify, what — two-thirds of the House and three-fourths of the states would approve.”

“So, I don’t see the path for that, but I can tell you that we are not going to take our foot off the gas pedal,” he insisted. “He’ll have four strong years.”