Trump predicts a Republican will win 2028 presidential election: 'I really believe that'

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump has predicted that the winner of the 2028 presidential election would be a Republican. 

During a wide-ranging phone interview on Fox News' 'The Five' on Thursday, March 26, the POTUS didn’t hedge when asked who he thinks will win.

"I would say it will be a Republican," he said. "I really believe that, and I think it will be a good one. I think we have a combination of people that would be very good. You put together a little combination, I think, it will be hard to beat that combination. I think you can figure that out."

He doubled down on the forecast and tied it to his administration’s record.

"I do believe it's going to be a Republican, I hope so, because we've made so many great strides. It would be a shame to see that thrown away," Trump added.

The next presidential election is set for November 2028. Trump, currently serving his second term, is barred from running again under constitutional limits.

Third-term talk refuses to go away

Even as the Constitution draws a firm line, Trump hasn’t exactly shut the door on a potential third term.

The Trump Organization is already selling red caps stamped with "Trump 2028." The $50 merchandise drop last year followed his insistence that he is "not joking" about wanting another run.

The US Constitution states that "no person... shall be elected more than twice," but that hasn’t stopped speculation or encouragement from allies about possible workarounds.

Pressed on the idea during a trip to Asia last October, Trump brushed it off at least partially. "I haven't really thought about it. But I have the best poll numbers that I've ever had," he remarked.

Days earlier, former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon claimed that a “plan” was already in place to secure the 79-year-old another term. Trump himself has hinted at the same in the past.

"There are methods which you could do it," he said in a previous interview with NBC. "I'm not joking... a lot of people want me to do it," he added. "But, I basically tell them we have a long way to go, you know, it's very early in the administration."

Asked whether he’d really want to keep grinding in what’s often called the toughest job in the country, Trump said, "Well, I like working."

He’s flirted with the idea before. At a rally in January last year, he told supporters it would be "the greatest honour of my life to serve not once, but twice or three times or four times." He later waved that off as a jab at the “fake news media.”

Trump says he rejected offer to become Iran's next supreme leader

At the annual NRCC dinner on Wednesday, Trump appeared to suggest Iran’s leadership had at least informally floated the idea of him becoming their supreme leader.

It was an offer he said he quickly declined.

"There's never been a head of a country that wanted that job less than being the head of Iran," Trump said. "We hear them very clearly. They say, I don't want it. We'd like to make you the next supreme leader. No, thank you. I don't want it."