Can Constitution stop Trump from seeking third term? President breaks silence

United States (U.S.) President Donald Trump has admitted the constitution does not allow him to run for another Oval Office term after saying, “I would love to run.”

Speaking to reporters at Joint Base Andrews on Tuesday, the 80-year-old Republican leader said: “Everybody asks me that but the law is very strong. I would love to run.”

He added that everybody wants him to seek a third term, adding, “even today people were screaming: 2028.”

This admission of constitutional limit comes after he has hinted at another run for the White House after donning “Trump 2028 hat.” He hasn’t publicly endorsed any Republican politician for the presidential race - the frontrunners include US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Rapid Response 47 on X: ".@POTUS on 2028: "I'd love to run, but the law is very strong. I get asked by [everyone]... everybody wants me to do it, but the law is very strong." https://t.co/F7798Tqm2T" / X

.@POTUS on 2028: "I'd love to run, but the law is very strong. I get asked by [everyone]... everybody wants me to do it, but the law is very strong."

President Trump is already into his second term as the POTUS, he previously served as 45th US president from 2017 to 2021 and then won the elections again in 2024 and returned to the office in January 2025.

According to the US Constitution, the 22nd amendment bars any politician from getting elected as president thrice after completing the first two terms.

The amendment consists of two sections:

• Section 1

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. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.

• Section 2

This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission to the States by the Congress.

It remains to be seen if the law can deter Trump from pursuing another ambitious bid. Trump has previously sought to restrict birthright citizenship through an executive order, a move that has faced major legal challenges.