Donald Trump is a name that has come up all too frequently throughout the past six months. The current president was re-elected in the 2024 election after losing the 2020 election to Joe Biden and failing to serve a consecutive term. The first four months of Trump’s presidency have been marked by new tariffs, the abolishment of government agencies, the beginning of mass deportations, and more. He’s sent heads spinning in D.C., causing further division between the two dominant parties. Despite this, Trump seems more concerned about the future of his own presidency than the current problems facing the country.
Since his re-election, Trump has thrown up the idea of serving a third time as president at the end of his term in 2029, but until recently most Americans assumed he was joking. However, two weeks ago, on Air Force One, Trump said he is completely serious about the possibility of serving a third term, and his team is actively searching for ways to make it happen. In an interview with NBC News, he simply stated, “I’m not joking.”
Now, this wouldn’t be the first time a president has served more than two terms. Franklin Roosevelt served four consecutive terms from 1933-1945 until his fourth term was cut short due to his death in 1945. Although FDR’s policies helped the country recover from the Great Depression and survive World War II, Congress decided to pass the 22nd Amendment in 1951 to ensure that no future presidents could serve for as long as FDR had. Congress wanted to ensure that the founding ideals of our nation were protected and guarantee that no one person could have too much power. The 22nd Amendment strictly prohibits anyone who has been elected to the presidency twice already from being elected again.
Obviously, it would be illegal and unconstitutional for Trump to serve a third term, but his team is looking for ways to bypass the limitations of the Constitution. One option would be to abolish the 22nd Amendment, but the chances of this happening are slim. To repeal an amendment, two thirds of the House and Senate would have to propose a change to the Constitution, or two-thirds of the state legislatures would have to call a constitutional convention to propose the change. Then, three-quarters of the states would have to approve said change. Given how slim his party’s majority in Congress is and how much division exists between the dominant parties across the country, this just isn’t going to happen for Trump. Another option that has been mentioned involves current Vice President J.D. Vance running for President in 2028, then handing Trump his place once he is elected.
Trump also argues that the 22nd Amendment only prohibits serving a third term after two consecutive terms. This is incorrect. The 22nd Amendment prohibits anyone who has been elected to the presidency two times from being elected a third time, regardless of if they served those terms consecutively or not. However, we’ve seen Trump violate the Constitution before and ignore orders from the other two branches of government, so there is a possibility he could manipulate the 22nd Amendment in his favor.
Even if he does manage to bypass the Constitutional limitations set in place at the moment, who knows if Trump would be re-elected? While his supporters seem extremely loyal, his approval rating has been dropping. Plus, he’s made some extremely risky moves within his first few months, impacting the world on the global scale and increasing the chance of a global recession.
It’s unlikely that Trump will actually get to serve a third term. Even the U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi commented to news outlets that Trump serving a third term is few and far between and highly unlikely. She, like many others, doubts the president will see office past 2028.
Regardless of the likelihood of him serving a third term, it’s ridiculous that the president is considering his power and influence four years from now instead of focusing on the policies that impact the American people today. There are some matters where I do side with President Trump. For example, his overall goal of preserving U.S. businesses and increasing U.S. manufacturing could benefit the economy in years to come. However, Trump’s tendency to look so far into the future and disregard present day issues draws concerns for me as a citizen. That’s exactly what he’s doing with the tariffs he’s imposing by taking action that could benefit the country in the long-term but is hurting American citizens in the short-term. And that’s exactly what he’s doing by thinking about his future as president in 2029. A president should focus on the tasks of today and prioritize completing his agenda by the end of his four years rather than gambling on having another term after his four years are up.
The 22nd Amendment was put in place for a reason: to help limit the power of the president and prevent total domination of the U.S. government. One person can’t just go against a constitutional amendment that was put in place 80 years ago as well as a precedent that was established by our very first president, George Washington. Trump needs to focus on the tasks at hand to help better our country today instead of focusing on things that are irrelevant currently.
It is too early to say much about Donald Trump and his presidency. But it isn’t too early to admit that Trump’s goal of serving a third term is unconstitutional and unacceptable. The objective of the president should be to leave the country better than he found it and then hand the baton to the next president to pick up where he left off. By focusing on expanding his power in the future, Trump is doing the exact opposite. It is illegal and unjust, and he has to concentrate on improving America today, rather than hoping he can improve it later. There are problems the country is facing that need to be addressed as soon as possible, and it is his job to fix these problems to the best of his ability. He needs to focus on the issues we are facing today to set up solutions for the future, not the other way around.
