‘Those are presidency-ending comments’: Donald Trump’s third term ambitions are picking up steam

As chaos unfolds around him, Donald Trump has taken time to encourage a narrative that has sent a scare through the spines of his most vocal critics.

Amid all the noise surrounding tariffs, Ukraine and internal US issues, Donald Trump has taken time out of his day to revisit a highly controversial talking point that has emboldened his strongest critics.

During a phone interview with NBC News, Mr Trump pushed the idea of a third term as US President again. In the few short months after fending off “dictator” and “tyrant” accusations from the American left during his campaign, Mr Trump has encouraged a narrative that would see the system tweaked to allow him to occupy the Oval Office for a total of 12 years.

“A lot of people want me to do it. But … my thinking is, we have a long way to go. I’m focused on the current,” he said.

But is it even possible?

The 22nd Amendment to the US Constitution sounds pretty straightforward: “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice”.

The amendment was a direct response to Franklin D Roosevelt’s four-term presidency, aiming to cement the two-term tradition established by the first US president George Washington.

But Mr Trump’s insinuations have rekindled discussions about the elasticity of this constitutional mandate.

“There are methods which you could do it,” he said.

Asked by host Kristen Welker if he was serious about the idea, Mr Trump responded: “No, no I’m not joking. I’m not joking.”

In January, Representative Andy Ogles of Tennessee introduced a resolution seeking to amend the 22nd Amendment. If successful, it would allow a president to serve a third term, provided the first two are non-consecutive, a scenario seemingly tailored solely to Mr Trump.

Notably, it would mean, say, Barack Obama would be unable to serve a third term because his two terms were consecutive.

There are checks and balances to the system and the path to amending the Constitution is labyrinthine, requiring a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate or ratification from three-fourths of state legislatures.

Given the Republicans do not have the numbers for either of those tasks, it’s implausible the Constitution will be changed.

Mr Roosevelt stands alone as the only US president to have served more than two terms, a decision driven by the catastrophic period between the Great Depression and World War II.

In contrast, Mr Trump’s current tenure lacks such catalysts, rendering his third-term aspirations even more contentious.

Nevertheless, the US is wading into a murky pool of maybes and Mr Trump has demonstrated he is unafraid of lifting the hood and tinkering with things if it applies to his “Make America Great Again” philosophy.

Reactions have been mixed to say the least.

The US is wading into a murky pool of maybes and Trump has demonstrated he is unafraid of lifting the hood and tinkering with things if it applies to his ‘Make America Great Again’ philosophy. Picture: NewsWire / Jim WATSON / POOL / AFP

“Donald Trump saying that he might run for a third term is not a joke and should not be taken lightly,” lawyer Aaron Parnas wrote. “At least a small part of him is serious … this is extremely dangerous”.

Others went further and claimed that Mr Trump’s actions leading up to the events on January 6th, where scores of protesters raided the capital, were proof he was an insurrectionist, which makes his current term unconstitutional under the 14th amendment.

“The 14th amendment says that insurrectionists can’t hold office and that hasn’t stopped Trump, so why does anyone think a third term isn’t on the cards?” political researcher Will Jennings wrote.

“This weekend Trump threatened to use military force against Greenland and run for a third term,” Robert E Kelly, professor of political science at Korea’s Pusan National University, said.

“It’s hard to state just how frightening that should be. Those are presidency-ending comments in normal times. So it’s almost as unnerving that everyone’s response is, whatevs, it’s Trump.”

‘Donald Trump saying that he might run for a third term is not a joke and should not be taken lightly.’ (Photo by Morry Gash / AFP)

Trump hardcore rally around third term

For his deeply-loyal fanbase, a third term of Trump is exactly what the country needs, as millions of Americans remain convinced the Democratic Party broke their nation beyond repair.

Former White House chief strategist and Trump’s long-time ally Steve Bannon has already started his own third term conga line, making international headlines with a speech at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) last month.

When Bannon took the stage for a live edition of his War Room podcast, one attendee’s comment about “Trump 2028” set him off on a tangent.

“What do we have to do to get Trump 2028?” the 71-year-old asked the crowd.

When the man responded that the MAGA crowd had to continue to “show up and stay loud,” Bannon chimed in with a slightly more radical proposition.

“Exactly. We’ve got to maybe work the Constitution too although I think there’s a way to slip through there but you never know,” he said.

How could it be slipped through?

One is a belief by some hardcore Trump supporters that the wording in the 22nd Amendment contains a loophole. That essentially if you make a deeply undemocratic move, Mr Trump could indeed serve more terms.

The amendment only bars someone from being “elected” for more than two terms. But what if they were appointed?

This scenario says that the current vice president JD Vance (or, really, anyone willing) could stand for president in 2028 with Mr Trump as their VP candidate. If elected as president, they could then stand down straightaway. The second in line would then be appointed president, which in this case would be Mr Trump.

One theory involves JD Vance becoming the US president and resigning so Donald Trump can take over. (Jim Watson/Pool via AP)

If no new election took place, this would see an unelected president take over for potentially years, which would be deeply hypocritical for the Republicans. Remember how much the party said democracy had been ignored when Kamala Harris became the Democrat candidate without going through a series of primary battles? That’s despite there being no legal need for primaries to occur. And besides, Americans still had the opportunity to vote for Ms Harris.

But many lawyers say the “appointed” plan comes to halt due to the 12th Amendment, which bars a person "ineligible” to be president to be appointed vice president. That would seem to rule out Mr Trump after his two terms.

Nonetheless, some are urging Mr Trump to try. If he did, it would be sure to end up in court.

‘We want Trump 2028’

“The future of MAGA is Donald J Trump. We want Trump in 2028,” Bannon yelled at CPAC.

“A man like Trump only comes along once or twice in a country’s history, right? We want Trump.”

He even described him as an “instrument of divine providence” as if he was sent by the almighty himself to save America.

“Human agency is what drives this world forward, this is the Holy Spirit working through us. That’s why Trump, General Washington and Lincoln come along every 100 years,” he continued.

“He is an instrument of divine providence. Of course he is.

“Look at what this Capital has become. The revolutionary generation never anticipated this imperial Capital. If they came back today, they would spit on the floor at what we’ve allowed to happen with the lords of easy money and the oligarchs.

“They would say ‘hey, what we need is a populist nationalist revolution’ and guess what, Donald Trump gave them one.”

Originally published as ‘Those are presidency-ending comments’: Donald Trump’s third term ambitions are picking up steam