What has Trump said about running for a third term? He is limited to 2

Donald Trump has repeatedly hinted at running for a third presidential term, despite constitutional limits.

The 22nd Amendment to the Constitution explicitly limits presidents to serving two terms in office.

President Donald Trump went from "probably not" attempting to run for a third term to saying "maybe we do one more term."

Trump has repeatedly hinted at trying for a third term in office, despite being constitutionally limited to two terms. He has shown "Trump 2028" hats at the White House and offered up theories on how he could get around the rule.

"Maybe we do one more term. Should we do one more?" Trump said at an event in Texas on Feb. 27, prompting the audience to cheer. "Well, we're entitled to it because they cheated like hell in the second one. We would actually be entitled to it."

Trump has long falsely said he won the 2020 election, but his efforts to challenge the results in court overwhelmingly failed.

What else has Trump said about wanting a third term?

Can Trump run for a third term?

Under the U.S. Constitution as it stands, Trump cannot serve a third term in office. The 22nd Amendment limits presidents to two terms.

Changes to the Constitution are extremely difficult and rare, as they require a two-thirds majority vote in both the House and Senate. States can also spur an amendment, but it requires two-thirds of the state legislatures to call a constitutional convention and three-fourths to ratify it.

What has Trump said about a third term?

Trump has repeatedly floated the idea of a third term throughout his second presidency. In a March 2025 NBC interview, he said there are methods to make it happen, including if Vice President JD Vance runs for office and then hands the role to Trump.

In a May 2025 interview with NBC's "Meet the Press," Trump backed off the idea, saying he was not looking at running again.

"I will say this. So many people want me to do it. I have never had requests so strong as that," Trump said in the interview with NBC. "But it's something that, to the best of my knowledge, you're not allowed to do. I don't know if that's constitutional that they're not allowing you to do it or anything else."

Then on Aug. 5, Trump was asked whether he would run for a third term in a CNBC interview.

"No, probably not ... Probably not, I'd like to," he said.

Speaking with reporters on Air Force One on Oct. 27, Trump was asked about Steve Bannon's comments to The Economist, where he said there is a plan to keep Trump in office past his term limit. Asked if he would be willing to challenge a court to get permission to do so, Trump said:

"I haven't really thought about it. We have some very good people as you know, but I have the best poll numbers I've ever had," Trump said. However, averages show his approval rating declined in the first 100 days and has remained low compared to other presidents. "I would love to do it."

Trump also regularly touts "Trump 2028" MAGA-style hats to people who visit the White House. That includes Democratic Congressional leaders meeting with Trump and Vance in the Oval Office in a failed attempt to stop the government from shutting down in October 2025.

America's founding father and first president, President George Washington, voluntarily stepped down after two terms, creating an unofficial tradition for future presidents to follow suit.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first and only president to break that tradition. The country was still recovering from the Great Depression, and at the dawn of World War II, he was re-elected to his third term. After leading the country through the global war, he was elected again in 1944 but died the following year.

A movement in the House of Representatives to officially limit the presidency terms, now ratified as the 22nd Amendment, began two years after Roosevelt's death.