Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said that he has talked to President Trump about the constitutional limitations that would prevent Trump from seeking a third term, and that the Speaker does not “see the path” to getting him another term after 2028.
“It’s been a great run, but I think the President knows — and he and I’ve talked about the constrictions of the Constitution, as much as so many of the American people lament that,” Johnson said in a press conference on Tuesday.
“The Trump 2028 cap is one of the most popular that’s ever been produced,” Johnson added.
But Johnson pointed to the 22nd Amendment of the Constitution, which prevents any person from being elected president more than twice.
“I don’t see a way to amend the Constitution, because it takes about 10 years to do that, as you know, to allow all the states to ratify,” Johnson said.
A constitutional amendment needs support of two-thirds of the House and Senate, and then ratification by three-fourths of the states.
“I don’t see the path for that,” Johnson said.
Trump has repeatedly said he would like to serve a third term, and talk of him doing so ramped up after former Trump adviser Steve Bannon told The Economist that there is “a plan” to make Trump president again despite the limitations of the 22nd Amendment, while declining to say what that plan is.
Trump on Air Force One early Monday said he would not attempt one supposed loophole: running as vice president, with the person atop the ticket stepping down and then Trump taking over once elected. But he would not rule out seeking a third term — and said he “would love to do it.”
Johnson said that he had spoken to Trump about an hour before, as the president was in Japan.
Johnson said that Trump “has a good time with that, trolling the Democrats, whose hair is on fire about the very prospect” of him trying to seek a third term in 2028.
“But I do believe that we got three extraordinary years ahead of us,” Johnson added, saying Trump’s administration will be an “incredible thing.”
