Politics
New Amendment Could Give Trump A Path To A Third Term In The White House
A Republican lawmaker has introduced an amendment that, if enacted, could provide President Donald Trump a path to securing a third term in the White House.
U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) proposed an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would allow President Trump to serve a third term in the White House so that the country “can sustain the bold leadership our nation so desperately needs.”
Under the amendment, a two-term president would have the opportunity to serve a third term in the White House if their two terms were not served consecutively. Before President Trump’s historic victory in November, only President Grover Cleveland had the distinction of serving two terms out of order.
“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 terms, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice,” reads the amendment proposed by Ogles.
Only President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who died in the middle of his fourth term after violating what had been a precedent among presidents, has served more than two terms in the White House. In 1951, presidents were barred from serving more than two terms after the 22nd Amendment was ratified.
“President Trump’s decisive leadership stands in stark contrast to the chaos, suffering, and economic decline Americans have endured over the past four years,” Ogles said in a statement on Thursday. “He 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.”
President Trump has long joked about running for the third term, which has sent Democrats and mainstream media outlets into a frenzy whenever he does it. In one notable Truth Social post, the president uploaded a meme that shows a number of oscillating campaign signs such as “Trump 2024, Trump 2028, Trump 2032,” eventually expanding over multiple centuries.
Trump most recently joked about the prospect while meeting with Republican lawmakers after his November election victory. “I suspect I won’t be running again, unless you do something,” Trump said a week after winning the 2024 presidential election. “Unless you say, ‘He’s so good, we have to just figure it out.’”
Republican lawmakers stressed that the president was joking and that Trump has no intention of seeking a third term in the White House. “That was a joke. It was clearly a joke,” U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett (R-OK) said at the time. “I leaned over to somebody beside me, [Rep.] Andy Biggs (R-AZ) , and I said, that’ll be the headlines tomorrow, ‘Trump trying to thwart the Constitution,’ which — there’s nothing further from the truth.”
Trump has previously told news outlets that a third term is not something he is interested in pursuing.
“I wouldn’t be in favor of a challenge. Not for me. I wouldn’t be in favor of it at all. I intend to serve four years and do a great job. And I want to bring our country back. I want to put it back on the right track,” Trump told Time magazine last year.
RELATED: Laken Riley Act Passes House, Set To Become First Bill Trump Signs Into Law
