Trump refuses to rule out 3rd term in office despite constitutional restrictions

WASHINGTON

US President Donald Trump on Sunday declined to rule out seeking a third term in office, maintaining there are ways to get around restrictions in the US Constitution.

"A lot of people want me to do it," Trump said during an interview with NBC News. "But, I mean, I basically tell them we have a long way to go, you know, it’s very early in the administration.”

Trump said he is "focused on the current" administration, but when asked about whether anyone has presented him with plans to secure a third term, he said: "There are methods which you could do it."

The 22nd Amendment of the US Constitution specifies that a person cannot be elected to the presidency more than twice, whether the terms are consecutive or not. Trump is currently serving his second term, leaving some of his allies to suggest that a path to a third stint in office could be secured via succession rather than election.

Trump declined to offer much specificity on which avenues he could pursue to secure a third term, but acknowledged that one method could be having Vice President JD Vance run for office, but then having him hand power over to Trump after winning the election.

"That's one," Trump said. "But there are others too."

Seeking to amend the Constitution to remove the 22nd Amendment's prohibitions would be near impossible given the two-thirds majorities required in Congress or separately by the states.