Trump rules out this 'too cute' ploy for unconstitutional 3rd term — but says he’d 'love to' run
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he boards Air Force One en route to Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, to attend a world leaders' summit on ending the Gaza war, amid a U.S.-brokered prisoner-hostage swap and ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, at Ben Gurion International Airport in Lod, Israel, October 13, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo
Not since President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who died in 1945, has a U.S. president served more than two terms. The U.S. Constitution's 22nd Amendment, fully ratified in 1951, clearly prohibits presidents from serving more than two terms.
Yet Steve Bannon and other MAGA Republicans are claiming that Trump can legally seek a third term in 2028. And some Republicans in the MAGA movement want him to run for vice-president.
On Monday morning, October 27, however, Trump said he would rule out running for VP in 2028.
Trump told reporters, "I'd be allowed to do that…. I wouldn't do that. I think it's too cute. Yeah, I would rule that out because it's too cute. I think the people wouldn't like that … It's not — it wouldn’t be right."
Trump said of running for a third term, "I would love to do it. I have my best numbers ever."
Reporter Tom Ambrose, in an article published by The Guardian, notes, "Some have suggested that one way around this prohibition would be for Trump to stand as vice-president, while another candidate stood for president but then resigned, letting Trump as the No. 2 step up and again assume the presidency…. Opponents have disputed whether this would be legal."
