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() Ideas of a third term for President Donald Trump have been floated around by some representatives, but one ex-White House lawyer told this just isn’t possible.
At least not without amending the Constitution.
“They can try to amend the Constitution. I just don’t see it happening,” Richard Painter, former chief White House ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration, said.
Trump has touched on this topic before. During a speech at the Congressional Institute in January, he said, “I’ve raised a lot of money for the next race that I assume I can’t use for myself. … I think I’m not allowed to run again. I’m not sure. Am I allowed to run again?”
Can Trump run for a third term?
Despite claims that this is possible, Trump cannot run for a third term based on the current Constitution. An amendment to the Constitution could make this possible, but it isn’t an easy path.
Painter believes this type of amendment isn’t likely, telling , “I don’t think the United States wants to run like Putin’s Russia. And I don’t think the vast majority of Republicans want that.”
WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 04: U.S. President Donald Trump (L) greets Chief Justice of the United States John G. Roberts, Jr as he arrives to deliver an address to a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol on March 04, 2025 in Washington, DC. President Trump was expected to address Congress on his early achievements of his presidency and his upcoming legislative agenda. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) 
President Donald Trump speaks during an executive order signing ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, March 6, 2025. (Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images) 
President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (Win McNamee/Pool Photo via AP) 
President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the Capitol in Washington on March 4. (Win McNamee/Pool Photo via AP) 
US Vice President JD Vance, from left, US President Donald Trump, and US House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, during a joint session of Congress in the House Chamber of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, March 4, 2025. Donald Trump’s primetime address Tuesday night from Capitol Hill, billed as a chronicle of his “Renewal of the American Dream,” comes at a critical juncture early in his second term, as voters who elected him to tackle inflation and improve the economy are beginning to weigh the impact of his agenda. Photographer: Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images 
President Donald Trump takes a question from a reporter in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on March 3, 2025 
President Trump is seen as he holds a meeting with the King of Jordan, Abdullah II Ibn Al-Hussein, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington D.C., on Feb. 11, 2025. 
President Trump listens during a news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in the East Room of the White House on Feb. 7, 2025, in Washington. (Alex Brandon, Associated Press)
On the other hand, Steve Bannon, Trump’s former adviser and campaign CEO, said, “We’ve had greater long shots than Trump 2028.” He also added that they’re “not prepared to talk about it publicly, but in a couple of months, I think we will be.”
The 22nd Amendment, ratified in 1951, states that “no person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.” Painter told he doesn’t believe the Trump administration could get support for a third term.
According to The New York Times, when Trump allegedly made remarks in November that hinted at a third term, Rep. Dan Goldman, a Democrat from New York, introduced a resolution to reaffirm the 22nd Amendment.
He told Bloomberg TV, “How he operates is by floating trial balloons that he often claims are jokes, but he’s very serious about it. And he’s been talking about staying on past this next term for years.”
