(OPGOV.NEWS GLOBAL) --- President Donald Trump’s recent jokes about running for a third term are not funny to many.
Trump’s remarks, “I’m getting very good at running for president,” at the July 24 White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner during a two-hour speech bring up the 22nd Amendment.
Though President George Washington clearly limited presidential terms to two, four-year stints, President Franklin D. Roosevelt broke that rule between 1932 and 1944, using World War II as the reason.
The National Constitution Center (NCC) addressed Trump and a third term directly after his 2024 win.
(Photo Credit: National Constitution Center)
“While the Constitution’s 22nd Amendment directly restricts Trump’s ability to run for a third term, he possibly could serve in a temporary role under some unusual scenarios,” the NCC reports.
Is that unusual scenario the continued war with Iran? Six months into the Middle East battle, with no definite end in sight, the possibility arises that Trump could use the war to remain in office. If the war does end before his term is up, would President Trump incite another war to keep his seat in the Oval Office?
Only Trump can answer that question, while others speculate.
Talks of Trump running for a third term are not new. Steve Bannon, Trump’s former chief strategist, said there was a way to get around the U.S. Constitution.
“Bannon did not disclose the details of the plan, only saying that there are ‘many different alternatives’ and that the pathway would be revealed ‘at the appropriate time,’” Time reports in 2025.
A year later, Wikipedia has a page dedicated to the third-term rumor, titled “Donald Trump third term proposal.” The page, which lays out Trump’s first and second terms, states “Trump has made inconsistent statements around this topic, sometimes claiming to be joking about the possibility or using it to antagonize his opponents.”
The page also dedicates a short section to Trump’s health, noting that at the time of Trump’s 2025 inauguration, he was the oldest president to take office. Now 80 years old, Trump’s age and health matter very much as far as a third term is concerned.
Only time will tell if war or Trump’s health will keep him in or out of office, but what seems certain is Trump’s ability to defy authority when he wants, making him subject to countless lawsuits.
NCC notes no other president by name has joked about the matter.
“Since 1951, few challenges have arisen to the 22nd Amendment’s meaning when it comes to term limits for persons elected as president,” NCC reports. “There also have been unsuccessful attempts to repeal the 22nd Amendment introduced in Congress.”
When it comes to a challenge, of all presidents, Trump’s track record shows he is up for the challenge.
(Thumbnail Photo Credit Polina Zimmerman)
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