The “Third Trump Term” Smoke and Mirrors

President Donald Trump joked about staying in office past this term during a meeting with Irish leader Micheál Martin last week.

“I want to just thank you once again for being here, it’s an honor, and hopefully we’re gonna be doing this at least three more times, OK. We’re gonna be doing this three more times, at least,” stated Trump.

“When I say ‘at least,’ the press goes absolutely crazy,” Trump further remarked, prompting laughter from the room. “So thank you very much for being here.”

The remarks about Trump staying in office go well beyond the president himself, involving members of Congress and conservative activists.

After Trump’s joint congressional address, which took place earlier this month, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) shared his thoughts in a post on X amplifying the speech, including “Trump 2028!” as a part of his reaction. Graham later responded to a question from a local South Carolina reporter who asked him about the post, saying, “It was a joke.”

While some in Congress, such as Graham, see chatter about a third Trump term as a joke, one has introduced a way to make it a reality. Tennessee Republican Andy Ogles has proposed a resolution to amend the 22nd Amendment of the constitution, which currently bars presidents from serving up to but no more than two terms in office.

Ogles’ approach to making this a reality would change that language to “allow a President to be elected for up to but no more than three terms.” The resolution presently has no cosponsors, meaning Ogles’ effort does not appear to be picking up steam among his colleagues.

This proposed constitutional amendment would need to be supported by two thirds of each chamber of Congress (both the House and the Senate) to pass. In raw numbers, that is 290 members of the House and 67 members of the Senate. Then, the measure would need to be ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of states, or 38 states. In other words, it is very unlikely to pass.

While Ogels’ resolution makes no direct mention of Trump, New York Democrat Dan Goldman introduced a resolution to explicitly prohibit Trump from serving a second term. The resolution’s text, if passed, would reaffirm “that the Twenty-second Amendment prohibits President Trump from running for President for another term.” Goldman’s resolution presently has no cosponsors.

Grassroots populist media personality and former White House adviser from Trump’s first term, Steve Bannon (who still maintains contact with the president), is another prominent figure weighing in on the issue of a potential third Trump term.

At last month's Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Bannon declared during a main-stage speech, “We want Trump in ‘28.”

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