Could President Trump legally run for a third term? Here's what the Constitution says
Conversations about whether President Donald Trump could seek a third term have reignited this week.
It started with Steve Bannon, Trump’s former chief strategist and ally. He claimed there’s a "plan" for Trump to run again in 2028. Then, when reporters asked the president about the idea, Trump said he would "love to do it" but ultimately downplayed the thought. A couple of days later, Speaker Mike Johnson weighed in, saying he doesn’t "see the path" for Trump to seek a third term. That was followed by the president finishing off this week’s back-and-forth with the comment, "based on what I read, I guess I'm not allowed to run."
What does the U.S. Constitution say about running for a third term? Let’s Get the Facts on whether or not a president can be elected to more than two terms.
What the 22nd Amendment says
The 22nd Amendment was officially added to the Constitution in 1951. The amendment : "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."
Specifically, at the top, it says that no one can be elected as the president more than two times.
The rule was adopted in response to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was elected to four terms — in 1932, 1936, 1940, and 1944. Roosevelt died early in his fourth term, but his presidency broke what had been a long-standing, unwritten tradition of serving only two terms, first established by George Washington and followed by Thomas Jefferson.
The latter part of the amendment talks about "two years of someone else’s term," meaning when someone inherits the role as commander in chief. If they serve more than two years of someone else’s term, they can only be elected once more. If they serve less than two years, they are eligible for two full terms after that.
This has come into play in history before:
Lyndon B. Johnson became president after John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, serving about 14 months of JFK’s term (less than two years). That means, under the amendment, he remained eligible to be elected twice. He was elected to the presidency in 1964 but didn’t run again after that.
Gerald Ford became president after Richard Nixon resigned in 1974, serving more than two years of Nixon’s term. That means, under the amendment, Ford could have been elected only one time. (Ford lost the 1976 election to Jimmy Carter.)
Because of scenarios like these, the maximum a person can serve as president is 10 years, but they can only be elected twice.
Is there an exception?
Some have speculated about a potential workaround: that a two-term president could run as vice president, and then, if the sitting president were to leave office, resume the presidency.
According to our partners at , constitutional scholars say this is unlikely.
The 12th Amendment also plays a role, as it , "no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States." Meaning if the candidate doesn’t meet the eligibility requirements to be president, they also aren’t eligible to be the vice president.
Experts argue that the intent of the 22nd Amendment, along with the 12th Amendment, makes the notion of a president being elected to a third term implausible.
Repealing the 22nd Amendment
That process would require a two-thirds vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, followed by ratification from three-fourths of the states — a nearly impossible political hurdle.
