President-elect Donald Trump is set to assume the presidency for a second time, becoming the 47th president of the United States after defeating Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.
Following his previous term as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021, Trump has now returned to the White House, sparking discussions about his ambitions and the limits of presidential terms.
Speaking to the House Republican Conference on Wednesday, November 13, Trump joked about the idea of seeking a third term. “I suspect I won’t be running again unless you say he’s so good we got to figure something else out,” Trump quipped, according to AP’s Farnoush Amiri, as reported by The New Republic.
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Not the first time Trump has made light of the two-term limit
Back in June 2019, during his 2020 re-election bid, he shared a meme video on his X (formerly Twitter) account, based on a 2018 TIME magazine cover, depicted campaign signs progressing from 2024 to 2048 and beyond, calling it a “TRUMP 4EVA.” The humorous tone of the video sparked discussions even then, with some critics expressing concern about the implications of the joke.
Under the US Constitution, a third presidential term would be unconstitutional. The 22nd Amendment, ratified in 1951, explicitly prohibits any individual from being elected president more than twice. The amendment, a response to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s four-term presidency, states, “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.”
However, Trump allies Tennessee Congressman Tim Burchett dismissed the joke saying, “That was a joke,” adding, “It was clearly a joke.” He also shared that he had joked with Arizona Representative Andy Biggs about the media coverage, saying, “Trump trying to thwart the Constitution.” Arizona Representative Eli Crane echoed the sentiment, stating, “I mean, he jokes all the time.”
