Can Trump Serve a 3rd Term? The 22nd Amendment Explained

Image Credit: POOL/AFP via Getty Images Donald Trump is now serving as the 47th President of the United States. After reclaiming the White House with a 2024 election win, following his first term that began in 2016, he became only the second president in U.S. history to serve nonconsecutive terms. Under the Constitution, this second term is expected to be his last.

But the 78-year-old hasn’t ruled out the idea of a third. In a March 30 interview with NBC News, Trump said, “A lot of people want me to do it.” When asked directly if he’d consider running again, he responded, “I like working. I’m not joking.”

Just weeks later, on April 24, his team began selling “Trump 2028” hats—$50 red caps boldly embroidered with the year—on the Trump Store website, encouraging supporters to “make a statement.”

Find out below if it’s possible for Trump to run again in 2028.

Can Trump Serve a 3rd Term? Earlier, in January 2025, Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) proposed a constitutional amendment that would allow President Trump to serve a third term. Ogles’ proposed amendment states: “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than three times, nor be elected to any additional term after being elected to two consecutive terms, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.”

The 22nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution limits a president to two terms in office, including non-consecutive terms. As a result, the next four years should be the final time Trump can hold the nation’s highest office.

According to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, George Washington, the first U.S. president, set the precedent by stepping down after two terms. This unofficial limit was observed by every president after Washington, until Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was elected to four terms from 1932 to 1944.

In response to Roosevelt’s unprecedented tenure, a proposal to limit presidents to two terms was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1947, two years after his death. After revisions by the Senate, the amendment was approved and ratified by the states on February 27, 1951.

In March 2025, when asked if he had been presented with plans to seek a third term, Trump said, “There are methods which you could do it.” One method mentioned was for Vice President JD Vance to run for office and then pass the role to Trump.

Is Trump Planning for a Third Term or More? Before Election Day, Trump stated he wouldn’t run again in 2028 if he lost in the 2024 race. In an interview with Sinclair Media Group, he was asked if he could envision another run if he lost to former Vice President Kamala Harris. “No, I don’t. I think… that will be it,” Trump said. “I don’t see that at all.” He added, “But hopefully, we’re going to be very successful.”

Since then, Trump has made several remarks about term limits and his time in office since being elected for a second term. It was unclear whether he was speaking seriously, but in March 2025, he clarified that he was not joking. When asked if he wanted another term during a phone interview with NBC, Trump responded, “I like working. I’m not joking.”

In July 2024, he told attendees at a conservative Christian event that they wouldn’t “have to vote anymore” if he was elected to office in 2024. “Christians, get out and vote. Just this time,” he said during a speech at the Believers’ Summit, an event hosted by the conservative advocacy group Turning Point Action. “You won’t have to do it anymore. Four more years. You know what? It’ll be fixed. It’ll be fine. You won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians.”