Trump again raises idea of running for an unconstitutional third term

President Donald Trump has again raised the prospect of serving for an unconstitutional third term, asking a crowd at a White House event whether he should run again and receiving audience chants of “Four more years!”

The suggestion followed a stretch of days in which Trump referred to himself as a king and quoted a dictator in suggesting that he was immune from following laws - all while his administration has continued pushing the bounds of presidential power.

Trump’s escalating rhetoric stoked further alarm among critics who say he is governing with an authoritarian playbook and fear he could attempt to seize power undemocratically, as he attempted to do after losing the 2020 election. The Constitution’s 22nd Amendment limits presidents from holding the office more than twice.

Trump’s suggestion before attendees of a Black History Month reception came after he mentioned “the next time” in a seeming reference to running again. He then cut off his own sentence to ask the audience if he should run another time. Met by shouts of affirmation, Trump basked in the attention, laughing and waving a hand at the audience.

“There’s your controversy right there,” Trump responded, chuckling. “You’re going to see that tonight, Tim, on television,” referring to Sen. Tim Scott (R-South Carolina), who was in the audience at the reception.

Hours later, former Trump adviser Stephen K. Bannon led an audience to chant “We want Trump!” referring to the 2028 election while speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Oxon Hill, Maryland.

“We want Trump in ’28,” Bannon said. “That’s what they can’t stand. A man like Trump comes along only once or twice in a country’s history. Right? We want Trump!”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday evening.

The limits of Trump’s power - and whether he will heed them - have become a central theme of the first weeks of his presidency. Since taking office, Trump has moved rapidly to stretch the limits of presidential authority. The U.S. DOGE Service has triggered alarm among federal agencies for sweeping actions against them that in many cases appear to violate federal law, and his administration has come close to openly defying judges.

In the midst of this blitz, Trump on Saturday posted on social media, “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law,” citing a quote often attributed to the French dictator Napoleon Bonaparte - and appearing to endorse a view generally seen as antidemocratic. Four days later, he referred to himself as “the king” on social media and the White House posted an illustration of him wearing a crown.

Declaring that New York was “SAVED” by his move to revoke federal approval of the city’s congestion pricing toll, Trump wrote: “LONG LIVE THE KING!” The White House reposted his message on its social media channels with the addition of the illustration, which was made to look like a mock Time magazine cover.

Trump has also claimed a sweeping mandate from the American people and inaccurately says he won in a “landslide,” assertions that are not supported by the election results. In fact, Trump’s victory was historically slim, with the smallest margin of victory in the national popular vote of any president who won the popular vote since Richard M. Nixon in 1968.

And many of his actions so far have been unpopular among Americans, a majority of whom say Trump has exceeded his authority since assuming the presidency, a Washington Post-Ipsos poll found this week. More than 8 in 10 Americans said that if a federal court rules that Trump has done something illegal since taking office, he should follow the court ruling.

As he did Thursday, Trump often raises ideas about his power in a joking manner. But his actions bolster his opponents’ fears - and warnings - that his actions are motivated by undemocratic ideals and could plunge the United States into authoritarianism.

“The choice right now is democracy or dictatorship. And we’re sliding faster than I ever thought possible into the latter,” former labor secretary Robert Reich wrote Thursday on X.

Speaking to his state legislature this week, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) warned against “tyranny,” saying: “We don’t have kings in America, and I don’t intend to bend the knee to one.”

After the Trump and White House social media posts on being a king, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) posted online: “Donald Trump isn’t a ‘king’ and we won’t let him use New Yorkers as roadkill on his revenge tour. We’ll see him in court.”

Trump has repeatedly mused about running for a third term. He raised the idea more than once during his first term in office and has done so since winning in November.

After losing a second term in 2020, Trump attempted to stay in office and overturn the election results. He falsely told his supporters the election had been stolen and called on protesters on Jan. 6, 2021, to march on the U.S. Capitol - which a violent mob of his supporters then did. After taking office for a second time, Trump has pardoned hundreds of people convicted of crimes in connection with the Jan. 6 attack.

He faced scrutiny during the campaign after telling an audience of Christian conservatives, “In four years, you don’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good you’re not going to have to vote.”

Days after winning the election, he told House Republicans: “I suspect I won’t be running again unless you say ‘He’s so good, we got to figure something else out.’” Last month, at the House Republicans’ annual retreat, he joked about whether he was allowed to run again.

In December, Bannon suggested that Trump should run again, asking a 1,000-person crowd at a New York dinner: “Are you ready for Trump ’28?” and raising the idea that a constitutional loophole could allow Trump to run for a third term.

The idea raised little alarm among Trump supporters at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday, though it didn’t garner enthusiasm from all. Attendee Michelle Sullivan, 65, said she hoped Vice President JD Vance would be the 2028 nominee but that she would support Trump if he sought another term.

But Steve Rogers, of Falls Church, Virginia, shook his head when asked about the proposal for a third Trump term. Filling out a CPAC straw poll on 2028 contenders - which did not include Trump as an option - Rogers selected Vance as his preferred 2028 candidate. He said the two-term limit should remain in effect.

“That’s the way it should be,” Rogers said. “The reason is you don’t want a king or a perception of a king.”

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Meryl Kornfield and Dylan Wells contributed to this report.

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