President Trump acknowledged on Wednesday that he cannot run for a third term, days after raising the possibility.
“I have my highest poll numbers that I’ve ever had, and you know, based on what I read, I guess I’m not allowed to run. So we’ll see what happens,” Mr. Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Gyeongju, South Korea.
“I would say that if you read it, it’s pretty clear. I’m not allowed to run. It’s too bad, but we have a lot of great people,” he added.
On Monday, Mr. Trump refused to rule out running for a third term, telling reporters, “I would love to do it.”
Asked if he was not ruling out a bid for a third term, Mr. Trump responded, “You’ll have to tell me.”
The 22nd Amendment of the Constitution explicitly forbids a president from being elected “more than twice.” No president other than Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was elected to four terms from 1932 to 1944, has served more than two terms.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday that he does not “see the path” for Mr. Trump to pursue a third term.
“It’s been a great run, but 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,” Mr. Johnson said during a Capitol Hill press conference.
Mr. Johnson said he didn’t see a way to amend the Constitution to allow Mr. Trump to run again, saying the process takes about 10 years.
“As you know, to allow the states to ratify what two-thirds of the House and three-fourths of the states would approve,” he said. So I don’t, I don’t see a path for that, but I can tell you that we are not going to take our foot off the gas pedal.”
When asked about Mr. Johnson’s comments, the president sidestepped the question.
“I don’t want to even talk about that because, you know, the sad thing is, I have my highest numbers that I’ve ever had,” Mr. Trump said.
On Monday, Trump had ruled out the idea of running on the 2028 Republican ticket as vice president.
“Yeah, I’d be allowed to do that,” Trump said. “I guess I think it’s too cute. Yeah, I would rule that out because it’s too cute. I think the people wouldn’t like that. It’s too cute. It’s not — it wouldn’t be right.”
