DORAL, Fla. — House Republicans in the chamber thought that President Donald Trump’s public reflections on Monday on seeking a third term were a joke, but Trump keeps making them.
One week after taking the oath of office for a second term, Trump told House GOP legislators at a rally here, “I’ve raised a lot of money for the next race that I assume I can’t use for myself, but I’m not 100% sure.” I believe I’m not permitted to run once more.
Trump persisted in considering a second presidential run, encouraging Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who had just brought him onstage, to pledge a fresh start.
Can I go running again? Trump enquired. I’d better keep you out of that, Mike.
Johnson, a former constitutional attorney, was observed laughing at Trump’s remarks while they were on stage together. The other Republican politicians in attendance also chuckled.
Days after a House ally introduced a bill that would initiate the process of adopting a constitutional amendment that would permit Trump to run for a third term, the president made his remarks at the House Republicans’ annual issues retreat at Trump National Doral, his golf club and resort outside of Miami. There has been no progress on the bill in the chamber.
In a statement last week, conservative Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., stated that Trump “has proven himself to be the only figure in modern history capable of reversing our nation’s decay and restoring America to greatness, and he must be given the time necessary to accomplish that goal.”
“To that end, I am proposing an amendment to the Constitution to revise the limitations imposed by the 22nd Amendment on presidential terms,” Ogles said. “This amendment would allow President Trump to serve three terms, ensuring that we can sustain the bold leadership our nation so desperately needs.”
Since the Constitution only allows for two terms as president, a constitutional amendment would be necessary if Trump were to serve a third term in 2028 or later.
Trump’s joke about seeking a third term was not in the first place.
At an event in Las Vegas over the weekend, Trump quipped to a gathering of supporters, “It will be the greatest honor of my life to serve not once, but twice, three times, or four times.” For the phony news, headlines, headlines. No, there will be two servings. I’m not going to sleep for the next four years. We won’t fail together, and I won’t give up.
Trump also hinted at a second run to House Republicans a few days after winning reelection to a second term.
Trump stated in November of last year, “I suspect I won’t be running again unless you do something.”
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, a senior Judiciary Committee member, slammed the drums of a third Trump administration on Capitol Hill. Lee stated that a constitutional amendment would be necessary to accomplish this.
“I haven’t noticed any flexibility in it. It’s possible that he sees something that I don’t. Lee told reporters, “I don’t know what his theory would be.” “I find it hard to believe that he is genuinely advocating for” a constitutional amendment.