President Donald Trump on Monday revealed which top Democrat he’d ‘love’ to run against as he again teased a third term.
Trump was in the Oval Office alongside Kid Rock to sign an executive order focused on ticket scalping when he was again asked about recent comments he made about attempting to run for a third term.
The Constitution’s 22nd Amendment prohibits a U.S. president from serving more than two terms and the Constitution would have to be amended yet again for Trump to run in 2028.
Fox News’ Peter Doocy asked if there was a thought that the Democrats could run former President Barack Obama, who’s just 63 years old, but who already served two terms.
‘I’d love that,’ Trump replied. ‘That would be a good one. I’d like that.’
He added: ‘I know poeple are asking me to run and there is a whole story about running for a third term. I don’t know. I never looked into it. They do say there’s a way you can do it, but I don’t know about that.’
The only way Trump could run for a third term would be to amend the U.S. Constitution.
‘But I have not looked into it,’ he continued.
President Donald Trump (right) on Monday revealed which top Democrat he’d ‘love’ to run against as he again teased a third term alongside Kid Rock (left) in the Oval Office
‘I’d love that. That would be a good one. I’d like that,’ President Donald Trump said when asked about the prospect of running for a third term against Democratic President Barack Obama (left). The Constitution prevents either man from running for a third term
‘I want to do a fantastic job,’ he added. ‘We have four years just about. Almost close to four years. Time is flying but it’s still clsoe to four years.’
Trump’s comments came after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt pushed Monday that reporters needed to calm their reactions to Trump’s third term musings.
‘You guys continue to ask the president this question about a third term and then he answers honestly and candidly with a smile and then everybody here melts down about his answer,’ Leavitt told reporters outside the White House Monday.
His comments have prompted concerns in light of Trump’s refusal to concede the 2020 election to President Joe Biden – which he still falsely claims was ‘totally rigged’ – and his role in the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack.
Leavitt had just gone on Fox News Channel’s America Reports, where she was asked about Trump’s third-term comments too, and gave as similar answer.
‘It’s funny to me that journalists ask the president this question. He gives an honest and candid answer, and then they spiral about his answer,’ Leavitt told Fox News Channel’s John Roberts.
‘He was asked this, and you heard him, and he’s right,’ she continued.
Leavitt said Americans are talking about a Trump third term because ‘people love the job this president is doing.’
President Donald Trump was asked about his comments to NBC News about serving a third term while on board Air Force One Sunday, returning to Washington, D.C. after spending the weekend at Mar-a-Lago
‘We have four more years to go and look at what the president has done in more than 60 days,’ she said.
Just three days into Trump’s second term, Rep. Andy Ogles, a Tennessee Republican, sent out a proposal to amend the 22nd Amendment to open the door for a Trump third term.
Ogles’ Constitutional amendment would allow for Trump to run for a third term – but prohibit Obama from doing so, because the Democrat had already served two consecutive terms.
The other former living presidents, Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Bill Clinton, also wouldn’t be eligible if this amendment was passed.
‘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 term,’ the text of the Ogles’ Amendment read.
There’s an incredibly high bar to pass a Constitutional amendment – as two-thirds of both the House and Senate would need to sign on – as well as three-fourths of the state legislatures.
With the current nearly 50/50 split in the country of Republicans and Democrats it’s extremely unlikely an amendment would pass – especially one that only aims to allow Trump to serve a third term.
Yet the topic of a Trump third term again came up over the weekend, when the president talked to NBC Meet the Press host Kristen Welker by phone Sunday morning.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked about President Donald Trump’s third term comments during a Monday afternoon appearance on Fox News Channel. She said that journalists were ‘spiraling’ over Trump’s response
‘A lot of people want me to do it,’ the 78-year-old president said.
A chant of ‘four more years’ broke out at the White House last week during the president’s Greek Independence Day event.
‘But, I mean, I basically tell them we have a long way to go, you know, it’s very early in the administration,’ he continued. ‘I’m focused on the current.’
When asked why he’d want another term, the president responded, ‘I like working.’
‘I’m not joking,’ he continued. ‘But I’m not – it is far too early to think about it.’
He was then asked if he’d been presented with plans on how to serve a third term.
‘There are methods which you could do it,’ he said.
He was asked about those comments on board Air Force One Sunday as he traveled back to Washington, D.C.
‘I don’t want to talk about a third term now because no matter how you look at it, you’ve got a long time to go,’ Trump said.
