Donald Trump finally stated emphatically that he will not run for reelection in 2028 after alarming constitutional experts by repeatedly flirting with the idea of a third term.
For the first time the president brushed off those within MAGA circles encouraging him to balk the Constitution and remain in office beyond his eight, nonconsecutive years.
Instead, he listed some potential political heirs for the 2028 presidential election.
Trump directly highlighted rising GOP stars he sees as capable of carrying on the MAGA agenda including Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
NBC News anchor Kristen Welker asked the president during the interview that aired on Sunday if he is ‘seriously considering’ a third term.
‘I will say this – so many people want me to do it,’ Trump replied. ‘I have never had requests so strong as that.’
‘But it’s something that, to the best of my knowledge, you’re not allowed to do,’ he conceded. ‘I don’t know if that’s constitutional that they’re not allowing you to do it or anything else. But, there are many people selling the 2028 hat.’
Trump then assured the NBC host: ‘But this is not something I’m looking to do.’
President Donald Trump directly addressed reports he is considering trying to get a third term in the White House
Trump sat down with NBC News anchor Kristen Welker for a wide-ranging interview in his first 100 days back in office
He also pushed back against Welker demanding he say whether illegal immigrants deserve ‘due process’ before they are deported.
‘Your Secretary of State says everyone who’s here, citizens and non-citizens, deserve due process. Do you agree, Mr. President?’ Welker posed.
‘I’m not a lawyer. I don’t know,’ he snipped.
She pushed back: ‘Well, the Fifth Amendment says as much.’
‘I don’t know. It seems – it might say that, but if you’re talking about that, then we’d have to have a million or 2 million or 3 million trials,’ Trump lamented. ‘We have thousands of people that are some murderers and some drug dealers and some of the worst people on Earth.’
‘I was elected to get them the hell out of here and the courts are holding me from doing it.’
‘I have brilliant lawyers that work for me, and they are going to obviously follow what the Supreme Court said,’ he added. ‘What you said is not what I heard the Supreme Court said. They have a different interpretation.’
Trump says he wants to turn over the White House to an heir for the Make America Great Again agenda in 2028.
Multiple polls show Republicans prefer either Vice President Vance or Trump’s eldest son Donald Trump Jr., who has so far expressed little interest in following in his father’s footsteps and running for public office.
‘I’m looking to have four great years and turn it over to somebody, ideally a great Republican, a great Republican to carry it forward,’ Trump told Welker in his Meet the Press sit-down interview.
‘But I think we’re going to have four years, and I think four years is plenty of time to do something really spectacular.’
Meet the Press host Kristen Welker pushed back on Trump casting doubt over the constitutionality of a third term
Polls show Republican voters want Trump’s political heir to be either Vice President J.D. Vance (left) or Donald Trump Jr. (right). President Trump said in his Sunday interview: ‘I’m looking to have four great years and turn it over to somebody, ideally a great Republican, a great Republican to carry it forward’
Welker expressed shock that Trump even cast any doubt over the constitutionality of going for a third term.
‘The Constitution does prohibit it,’ she said to the president. ‘Some of your allies are pretty serious about this, though, Mr. President. And I’ve spoken to them. They say they are coming up with potential ways, obviously the biggest one would be a constitutional amendment.’
‘That’s because they like the job I’m doing, and it’s a compliment. It’s really a great compliment,’ Trump said, shrugging of Welker’s concerns.
‘Many people have said different things,’ he continued and reiterated: ‘But, I’m not looking at that.’
