Is A Presidential 3rd Term Possible?

If you happen to flip through a timeline of previous US presidents, you likely would be interested in the presidents themselves and their impact in and after leaving office. However, have you ever stepped back and considered how long they have been in office?

Upon closer inspection, you’ll probably notice that most presidents served for a maximum of 8 years, which would be two 4-year terms. This originally was because of a tradition to serve no more than 2 years, a precedent set by president George Washington. Currently, presidents are dictated by law to serve no more than 8 years.

But US President Donald Trump is considering the possibility of serving a 3rd term in office. But is that feasible? Today, we’ll try to answer exactly that.

Trump’s Idea

President Trump said on Sunday he is not joking when pondering the possibility of running for a 3rd term in office in 2028, an indication that he is considering ways to overcome the congressional barrier that supposedly bars individuals from running for more than two terms.

Trump is no stranger to being the head of the Executive Branch (he served his first presidential term from 2017 to 2021), and is currently serving his 2nd term in office (starting on January 6th, 2025).

However, in 2028, a new presidential election will occur, and it would mark the end of his time at the White House.

The 22nd Amendment

According to the 22nd amendment to the US Constitution, Donald Trump would have to step down in 2028 at the end of his term and isn’t eligible for reelection, as it states “no person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice”.

This amendment was passed in 1947 and ratified in 1951, and applies to anyone who is trying to or has already been elected as president.

Prior to its existence, most presidents didn’t serve more than two terms anyway, respecting the tradition mentioned at the beginning of this article. However, there were some exceptions over the years, most notably Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR), the only US president to ever serve more than two terms. He was elected to four consecutive terms (1933-1945), breaking the historical precedent.

It was mainly due to FDR’s four term presidency that congressional reform was pushed forward, leading to the passing of the 22nd amendment. This new law turned a tradition into law, leading to the American political landscape we see today.

Are There Loopholes?

While laws like the 22nd amendment are designed to be airtight and not leave room for any possible loopholes, it’s still a topic worth pondering.

Firstly, trying to serve three consecutive terms outright. The 22nd amendment is considered a self-enforcing law, with built-in mechanisms to ensure it is enforced. So if someone did try, election officials would have to exclude ineligible individuals from the ballot, Congress must reject electoral votes cast for a third-term candidate, and courts would immediately invalidate any third-term bid upon challenging.

Secondly, serving two-terms and skipping a term, then reentering into the next presidential election. This is also prohibited, as the Constitution doesn’t only count consecutive presidential terms, it counts all the terms a individual serves as president. This also makes a so-called temporary power transfer (a president temporarily steps aside, then returns to reset term limits) impossible, as any time spent in office as president (including being acting president) counts.

Thirdly, vice president to president.

According to the line of presidential succession, the vice president would become president and serve the rest of the former president’s term in the case that the president dies, resigns, or is impeached by Congress.

In this particular scenario, things become a bit complicated regarding how many additional terms could the vice president run for. If the president didn’t serve up to half of his term, the vice president (who replaces the president) would only be eligible for another additional term (assuming they are elected). But if the president did serve more than half of his term, the vice president would be eligible for an additional two terms, so the vice president would be able to serve up to 10 years as president.

This possibility is directly addressed in the 22nd amendment, so if an individual completed the process of becoming vice president, then letting the president die, resign, or get impeached 2 years into their term, assumes the role of president, is elected in two separate elections, then they could serve 10 years. However, this is clearly impractical for a number of reasons that I’ll not be diving into, and either way, Trump’s ineligible for this since he is already in his 2nd term.

Fourthly, becoming VP first (a two-term president becomes vice president, then ascends to becoming president). Although this circumstance isn’t addressed in the 22nd amendment, the 12th amendment prohibits this as no one “ineligible for the office of the President” can be vice president. Since Trump in 2028 would be ineligible already for the role of President, he can’t assume the role of vice president either.

Fifthly, changing the Constitution. It is possible to amend the amendment and perhaps get rid of term limits (meaning an individual would be able to serve run for president for life). But although this is again a technically feasible plan, it is even harder to achieve and even more impractical. Since 1789, over 11,000 amendments have been proposed in Congress, of which 33 were passed and sent for ratification, and only 27 have ever been ratified as of 2025. 10 of the 27 ratified amendments were simultaneously passed as part of the Bill of Rights in 1791, while the latest amendment was passed in 1992 regarding congressional pay. It’s no accident that changing the Constitution is such a rigorous and time-consuming process; by requiring a 2/3 majority in Congress and a 3/4 majority in all states, the Founding Fathers of the United States wanted to ensure relative stability in the system.

However, there are additional possibilities, though they wouldn’t be plausible in practice either.

Regarding whether “a president can resign a few months early thereby avoiding a full second term”, the answer is that the president would be barred from running for office because any partial term over two years is counted as a full term.

Also, an individual can’t run as a third-party candidate after they’ve served two terms already and evade the two-party system, as the 22nd amendment applies to all elections.

Lastly, an emergency power grab to extend a term isn’t possible, as a coup-like power grab would trigger immediate impeachment thanks to the fact that the Supreme Court of the US has repeatedly struck down presidential overreach in cases such as Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (which limited presidential power).

So after considering all these possible situations, it seems that a 3rd-term president wouldn’t be likely.

Why Is Trump Contemplating A 3rd Term?

It seems strange that even against all odds, Trump is still suggesting that he may run for president again in 2028. So what’s the point?

One possibility is that he is intentionally trying to get more media attention and rally his supporters by challenging boundaries using these provocative statements as such. If that’s indeed his end goal, then you could say he has succeeded to some extent (I’m writing about it and you’re reading about it).

However, that’s just some speculation. What do you think is the point of Trump’s rhetoric?

Conclusion

I hope that after reading this article, you learned something new. What are your thoughts on a 3rd term presidency? What do you think about its plausibility?

As always, thank you for reading. Remember to subscribe, like, and share this article.