Can Donald Trump run for president again in 2028?

In January, Donald Trump will become the 47th President of the United States.

Trump beat Kamala Harris rather easily to return to the Oval Office.

The president-elect notched 295 Electoral Votes – compared to just 226 for Harris –crossing the magic 270 mark.

This will be Trump’s second term in office.

But can but can he run again for president in 2028?

Let’s take a closer look:

Can Trump run again?

Not under the current US Constitution.

US presidents are limited to serving a maximum of two terms in office by law.

Their terms are restricted by the 22nd Amendment of the United States’ Constitution.

It states, “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, 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 once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.”

This initially wasn’t the case.

The original US Constitution set no bar on the number of terms a president could serve.

Alexander Hamilton, one of the founding fathers of the United States, wrote, “That magistrate is to be elected for four years; and is to be re-eligible as often as the people of the United States shall think him worthy of their confidence.”

However, George Washington, the first President of the United States, set an example for his successors by choosing to walk away after serving two terms.

Most presidents followed in Washington’s footsteps – with the notable exceptions of Ulysses G Grant and Theodore Roosevelt, who were respectively denied the party nomination and lost the reelection bid.

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Then, Franklin D Roosevelt changed the game.

Roosevelt served a whopping four terms as US president – in 1932, 1936, 1940 and 1944.

Roosevelt, who would die soon after his fourth term began, was succeeded by his vice president Harry S Truman.

Truman, who sought to refine the US Constitution and the government, established the Hoover Commission.

It was the Hoover Commission, headed by former president Herbert Hoover, that made this recommendation to US Congress.

The amendment was put forth to Congress in 1947 and ratified by the states on February 27, 1951 by the states.

Since then, no US president has served more than two terms.

But it’s not quite as simple as that – as often is the case when it comes to Trump.

Mixed signals

Trump theoretically could run in 2028 – if the Republicans manage to amend the US Constitution.

That is no mean feat.

Under the Constitution, this would be a long legal process beginning with an amendment being proposed either by the Congress with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate or by a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the State legislatures.

Thus far, there have been just 22 Amendments to the US Constitution in America’s 250 year history – all by Congress.

Trump himself has sent mixed signals about running in 2028.

“This has been an incredible journey, and it’s very sad in a way because we’ve done all these (rallies) and this is the last one,” Trump said during his final rally on November 5 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

As per Economic Times, Trump in an interview in September – before he became president-elect – dismissed any notion of running in 2028.

“No, I don’t. I don’t see that at all,” he said. “Hopefully, we’re going to be successful.”

Trump also told Time Magazine, “I wouldn’t be in favour 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. Our country is going down. We’re a failing nation right now. We’re a nation in turmoil,” he said.

However, Trump has also recently been quoted as saying that he never should have left office in 2020 – a statement which left many of his critics, who claim he is a fascist and a dictator-in-waiting, alarmed about the possibility of him trying to stay in power.

In May, at an NRA convention, Trump also pondered aloud the idea of running for a third term If he won in November.

“You know, FDR 16 years — almost 16 years — he was four terms. I don’t know, are we going to be considered three-term? Or two-term?” he said, as per Politico.

As everything else with Trump, nothing is for sure.

With inputs from agencies

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