Donald Trump has spoken out on whether he will campaign for President again.
The US President had previously said he’d run for a third term if he could, however, speaking to CNBC today, Trump said: “No, probably not, probably not. I’d like to … I have the best poll numbers I’ve ever had,” per Metro.
Trump had earlier joked about running for president for a third time, and given the amount of support from his followers, some wonder if he’s considering it seriously.
Back in November, he told House Republicans: “I suspect I won’t be running again unless you say ‘He’s so good, we have to figure it out.’”
American presidents are limited to two terms, as stated in the 22nd Amendment of the US Constitution.
In a phone call with NBC News earlier this year, when asked to clarify on running for a third term, Trump said: “I am not joking. There are methods which you could do it.”
According to the 22nd Amendment, no person can be president more than twice. It was added to the Constitution in 1951 after Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected four times in a row.
It states: “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.”
Trump would be 82 at the end of his second term in 2028. This would mean the President would be at least 86 by the end of a third term, it being very unlikely that a third term would even be granted.
Allowing a third presidential term would require amending the US Constitution. This would call for a two-thirds majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, which the Republican Party does not have.
An alternate approach would be through a constitutional convention called by two-thirds of the states that would propose changes to the charter.