Trump's Trials - Is Trump just trolling with talk of a third term?

Episode Date: October 29, 2025

President Trump mentioned again this week the possibility of running for a third term. Doing so would be unconstitutional, so why does the president keep floating the idea? NPR's Tamara Keith reports. Support NPR and hear every episode of Trump's Terms sponsor-free with NPR+. Sign up at plus.npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

I'm Scott Detrow, and this is Trump's Terms from NPR. We're under invasion from within. If you're not going to protect your citizens, President Trump will. We all serve at the pleasure of the president. The golden age of America is upon us. We are in the golden age. Every episode, we bring you one of NPR's latest stories about the 47th president, and now he is trying to remake the federal government.

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I'm Michelle Martin in Washington, D.C. President Trump keeps flirting with the idea of serving a third term in office. Here he is last night on Air Force One. Based on what I read, I guess I'm not allowed to run. So we'll see what happens. The 22nd Amendment to the Constitution clearly states no person shall be elected to the office of the president more than twice. So why is Trump talking about it again? NPR Senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith digs in.

This week's outbreak of Trump-2020 mania began when Trump, ally and MAGA mastermind Steve Bannon sat down for an interview with The Economist. Well, he's going to get a third term. So Trump 28, Trump is going to be president 28. And people just ought to get accommodated with that. Asked about the 22nd Amendment, he said there are many different alternatives, but he didn't detail them. Bannon said nearly the same thing back in April in an interview with Morning Edition host, Steve Inskeep. We're working on some things that are well within side the Constitution, and it'll be very, I think people agree that it'll be very smart work. Give me an example.

I don't want to, I don't want to wet your appetite. Let's get through, let's get through the hundred days. Let's get through. No, because it's, it's exploding liberals heads, progressive heads, that Trump's going to be with them forever. Now, it would be easy to chalk this up as Bannon stirring the pot, but President Trump himself has kept it going. Here he was on Air Force One Monday morning. I would love to do it. I have my best numbers ever. It's very. terrible. I have my best numbers. If you read it, am I not ruling it out? You'll have to tell me all I can tell you. He did bat down the idea of running for vice president and then assuming the presidency. But just like Bannon, Trump leaves the possibility of a third term dangling out there.

Here he was back in March again on Air Force One. I'm just telling you, I've had more people say, please run again. I said, we have a long way to go before we even think of. about that. I followed up, asking, are you planning to leave office on January 20th, 2029, or are you saying you might not? He looked directly at me and then looked over my head. Go ahead. Any other questions? The president's stocks read Trump-2020 hat on a bookcase of merch just outside the Oval office. Last month, when Democratic leaders visited to talk about averting the government shutdown, The hats showed up on the president's desk, as House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told CNN. It was the strangest thing ever, and I just looked at the hat, looked at J.D. Vance, who was seated to my left and said,

don't you got a problem with this? And he said no comment. Yesterday, House Speaker Mike Johnson said he didn't see a path to a third Trump term. I think the president knows, and he and I've talked about the constrictions of the Constitution. as much as so many the American people lament that. The Trump-2020 cap is one of the most popular that's ever been produced, and he has a good time with that. So is it all just a troll? Brenton Nihann is a professor of government at Dartmouth College. We're probably going to hear about this for the next three years because he enjoys it.

It gets the kind of reaction he wants, and it serves his political purpose. Trump is both making liberals' heads explode, as Bannon put it, and trying to delay becoming a lame duck president, less relevant than those competing to replace him. Again, Niham. It's profoundly destabilizing to call into question something as blatant as the 22nd Amendment, which explicitly rules out what Trump is, quote, joking about. And we've seen again and again him joking about things that he means to encourage or at least seem to give tacit approval to.

In his second term, Trump has massively expanded his executive power. as Republicans in Congress either cheer or shrug. But Rick Hassan, an election law expert at UCLA, says there's no nuance in the 22nd Amendment. Is it possible that he could try to suspend elections, suspend the Constitution, run for a third term? All of these things are possible. But that means we're no longer the American democracy that we've had. And then the country's in real trouble. But if you're asking about a legal path to a third term, it's just,

just not there. Plus, he asks, would President Trump really want to run against former president Barack Obama? Tamara Keith, NPR News. Before we wrap up a reminder, you can find more coverage of the Trump administration on the NPR Politics Podcast, where you can hear NPR's political reporters break down the day's biggest political news with new episodes every weekday afternoon. And thanks, as always, to our NPR Plus supporters. who hear every episode of the show without sponsor messages. You can learn more at plus.npr.org. I'm Scott Detrow.

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