President Trump has insisted that he’s serious about wanting to serve a third term in office, an ambition that runs contrary to the US Constitution.
In his second term in office, the limit allowed under the 22nd Amendment, Trump suggested there were still ways for him to spend another four years in the White House and secure his legacy in American history as the second president ever to serve more than eight years.
While Trump has remained silent on how he could accomplish this goal, his supporters claim there are viable pathways to a third term, including ratifying the Constitution.
What did Trump say?
Trump brought up the idea of serving three or more terms following his inauguration in January, which he later claimed was just a joke for the “fake news media.”
The president, however, brought up the idea again during an interview with NBC on Sunday, claiming, “There are methods which you could do it.”
“I’m not joking,” Trump said. “A lot of people want me to do it. But, I basically tell them we have a long way to go, you know, it’s very early in the administration.”
What does the US Constitution say?
The 22nd Amendment flatly denies a president the chance of serving more than two terms in office.
“No person shall be elected to the office of the president more than twice, and no person who has held the office of president, or acted as president, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected president shall be elected to the office of the president more than once.”
The law was ratified in 1951 to make certain what had been a tradition up until then for presidents to deny themselves a third term, just as George Washington had done.
How could Trump run for a third term?
Trump’s supporters have called for the Constitution to be ratified to fulfill the president’s ambition, with Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) introducing a resolution in January that would allow a president to serve up to three terms as long as they were not consecutive.
The law would effectively make Trump the only former president eligible to run for a third term as Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton — the only remaining living presidents — all served consecutive terms during their presidency.
Others also claim that nothing is stopping Trump from serving a third term through succession, calling for him to make a vice presidential bid in 2028 and then have his running mate step down after the inauguration.
What do legal experts say?
Derek Muller, a professor of election law at Notre Dame, poured water on the “running mate loophole” by noting that under the 12th Amendment, “no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.”
Since Trump is barred from running again due to the 22nd Amendment, he is ineligible to run for vice president.
“I don’t think there’s any ‘one weird trick’ to getting around presidential term limits,” Muller said.
Have any presidents served more than two terms?
Franklin D. Roosevelt is the only US president who has ever served more than two terms in office, which occurred prior to the ratification of the 22nd Amendment.
Roosevelt was elected to office four times, with the need to unify America through the Great Depression and World War II often cited for his popularity and unprecedented time in office.
Roosevelt died during his fourth term in 1945.
With Post wires
