As critics stage nationwide protests decrying his alleged autocratic tendencies, President Donald Trump refused to rule out running for a third term despite the Constitution's 22nd Amendment, which limits leaders to two terms.
When asked directly about a third term, Trump replied, "I would love to do it. I have my best numbers ever... Am I not ruling it out? I mean, you'll have to tell me."
He did, however discard the idea some supporters have suggested -- running for Vice President to maintain a grip on the Oval Office.
“I’d be allowed to do that,” Trump said, in an exchange with reporters aboard Air Force One while traveling from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Tokyo, Japan, on Monday.
He added: “I wouldn’t do that. I think it’s too cute. Yeah, I would rule that out because it’s too cute. I think the people wouldn’t like that … It’s not – it wouldn’t be right."
[It's worth noting, however, that there is a constitutional safeguard in the 12th Amendment, which states that “no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of president shall be eligible to that of vice-president of the United States.”]
Trump went on to contrast his team with the Democrats, adding, "All I can tell you is that we have a great group of people, which they don't." Trump mentioned Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio as potential successors, stating, "I think if they have a form to grip it would be unstoppable."
Trump 2028 hats have been spotted here and there in the last year, and the president himself told NBC News in March that he was “not joking” about pursuing a possible third term. In May, Two months later, he told U.S. troops stationed at the Al Udeid Air Base in Doha, Qatar, “As you know, we won three elections, OK? And some people want us to do a fourth. I don’t know, I’ll have to think about that.”