House Speaker Mike Johnson said President Trump understands “the constrictions of the Constitution” and won’t seek a third term, despite Mr. Trump publicly refusing to rule it out.
The 22nd Amendment of the Constitution forbids a president from being elected “more than twice,” but that hasn’t stopped Mr. Trump from publicly flirting with the idea of a third term.
“I would love to do it,” Mr. Trump said Monday when asked by reporters on Air Force One about a possible 2028 presidential bid. “I have my best numbers ever.”
He called it “very terrible” that the Constitution limits presidents to two terms, but said he has not really thought about fighting in court for a potential third term.
Asked if he was not ruling out a bid for a third term, Mr. Trump responded, “You’ll have to tell me.”
Mr. Johnson told reporters on Tuesday that his conversations with Mr. Trump suggest the president is having fun teasing the prospect of a third term but that he won’t seek one.
“I think the president knows — and he and I have talked about — the constrictions of the Constitution, as much as so many of the American people lament that,” the speaker said. “The Trump 2028 cap is one of the most popular that’s ever been produced, and he has a good time with that, trolling the Democrats, whose hair is on fire about the very prospect.”
While some Republicans have floated the possibility of amending the Constitution to let Mr. Trump run again, Mr. Johnson said there is no feasible path to do that.
“I don’t see a way to amend the Constitution, because it takes about 10 years to do that, as you all know, to allow all the states to ratify what two-thirds of the House and three-fourths of the states would approve,” he said.
The speaker said there are still “three extraordinary years ahead” with the time remaining in Mr. Trump’s second term.
“We are not going to take our foot off the gas pedal,” Mr. Johnson said. “We’re going to deliver for the American people, and we’ve got a great run ahead of us.”
Steve Bannon, a former top Trump strategist, said in a recent interview with The Economist that “there is a plan” for Mr. Trump to secure a third term, which he said will be revealed “at the appropriate time.”
“Trump is going to be president in ’28, and people ought to just get accommodated with that,” he said.
Mr. Bannon pushed back on the notion that Mr. Trump running for a third term would undermine the Constitution and resemble a quasi-dictatorship.
“The only way President Trump wins in 2028, and continues to stay in office, is by the will of the American people, and the will of the American people is what the Constitution embodies,” he said.
Mr. Bannon isn’t the only Republican to have floated the idea of a third Trump term.
Rep. Randy Fine, Florida Republican, said on social media this month that if Mr. Trump is successful in obtaining peace in the Middle East, “we should repeal the 22nd Amendment and thank the Lord for every day @realdonaldtrump can be our President.”
• Jeff Mordock and Mallory Wilson contributed to this report.
