'I'd love to run': Trump reignites 2028 third-term talk with striking admission
WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump renewed his interest in a third presidential term, saying he would “love to run” while acknowledging the legal barrier.
Trump has repeatedly joked about a third term but has also said he was not “joking” about seeking another run.
He made the latest remarks while speaking with reporters at Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday, August 12, after attending the Patriot Games.
.@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." pic.twitter.com/F7798Tqm2T
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 12, 2026
Trump signals desire for third term
Trump was asked about the possibility of running in 2028, an idea he said has come up repeatedly.
He pointed to the law while making clear that he would want another chance at the presidency.
“Everybody asks me that question, and you know that the law is very strong on that,” Trump said. “I'd love to run, but the law is very strong.”
Trump said the question had also come up at the Patriot Games, where he said people were calling out “2028.”
The 22nd Amendment states that no person can be elected president more than twice. It was ratified by the states in February 1951, about six years after the death of Franklin D Roosevelt, who had served four terms.
The two-term limit followed a longstanding political norm dating to George Washington.
Trump alternates between jokes and third-term ambitions
Trump’s latest comments come after he has alternated between joking about a third term and suggesting he may be serious about seeking one.
At the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on July 24, Trump joked about serving another term while calling the idea a joke.
.@POTUS: "I am delighted to be here at the White House Correspondents' Dinner... as I said 3 months ago, the show must go on... but just like my presidency, the second time is always better — and a third time will be better yet." 🔥😂 pic.twitter.com/oCNMIMehVr
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 25, 2026
“Just like my presidency, the second time is always better. It's always better. And the third time will be better yet. I'm only kidding,” Trump said.
But in a March 30, 2025, interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker, Trump took a more serious position.
He explicitly said he was not “joking” about seeking a third term and said there were possible methods for doing so.
“There are methods which you could do it,” Trump told Welker.
One route he described involved Vice President JD Vance running for president with Trump as his running mate.
Under the scenario Trump described, Vance could win and later resign, allowing Trump, as vice president, to succeed him.
Trump's proposed VP route faces constitutional barrier
Constitutional scholars believe that route would not work.
Deborah Pearlstein, a Princeton University law professor, told the Washington Post that the 12th Amendment “closes the door” on Trump securing a third term through the vice presidency.
The amendment states that “no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.”
That provision is directly relevant to Trump’s earlier suggestion that he could return to the presidency through the vice presidency after Vance won the White House.
Trump’s latest remarks do not present a new method for seeking a third term. Instead, he again acknowledged that he wants to run while pointing to the legal restriction that stands in the way.
