Trump Appears To Throw in the Towel on Nonsensical Third Term Talk: ‘I’d Love To, But the Law Is Very Strong’ 

President Donald Trump perhaps gave his strongest acknowledgement yet that he is constitutionally ineligible to run for a third term.

Trump has repeatedly suggested he will run again in 2028 to somehow win a third term, but the 22nd Amendment prohibits candidates from being elected more than twice. The amendment was ratified in 1951 after Franklin Roosevelt ran for and won an unprecedented third term and fourth term as president in 1940 and 1944, respectively.

The president spoke with reporters at Joint Base Andrews on Tuesday night after he returned from attending the Patriot Games in Ohio. At one point, a reporter asked the president about his talk of running again.

“Mr. President, you’ve mentioned 2028 several times in the last few weeks,” the reporter said. “At the [White House Correspondents’ Association] dinner, you put on a ‘Trump 2028’ hat. Are you serious about seeking a third term?”

Trump responded:

Everybody asks me that question. And you know that the law is very strong on that. I’d love to run, but the law is very strong. I get asked by everyone. Even tonight, they’re screaming at the event, “2028!” No, everybody wants me to do it, but the law is very strong.

The reporter asked, “Is that a no?” However, Trump moved on to the next journalist.

Last month at the WHCA Dinner redux, Trump alluded to running for a third term.

But just like my presidency, the second time is always better,” he said. “It’s always better, and the third time will be better yet.”

Trump is just the second president to serve two non-consecutive terms as president. The first to do so was Grover Cleveland, the 22nd and 24th president, having lost to and defeated Benjamin Harrison in 1888 and 1892, respectively. Like Trump in 2016, Harrison lost the popular vote in 1888, but became president nonetheless.

Watch above via C-SPAN.

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