US President Donald Trump has denied that he is considering a third presidential term, a move which experts agree is banned under the US Constitution.
“I’ll be an eight-year president, I’ll be a two-term president. I always thought that was very important,” Trump told NBC’s Meet the Press with Kristen Welker in an interview that aired on Sunday.
Trump, 78, has previously said that he was “not joking” about wanting to serve a third, or even fourth, term as US president.
He later said his statements were meant to troll the “fake news media”.
His company, The Trump Organisation, has been selling “Trump 2028” hats, fuelling armchair speculation that he may seek to remain in office after his second term ends in January 2029.
In the interview, recorded from his residence in Florida on Friday, Trump said that he has had many “requests” from people asking that he consider seeking to remain in office.
“So many people want me to do it,” Trump said, just days after celebrating his first 100 days of his second term.
“It’s something that, to the best of my knowledge, you’re not allowed to do. I don’t know if that’s constitutional that they’re not allowing you to do it or anything else,” Trump said.
He added that “there are many people selling the 2028 hat”.
“But this is not something I’m looking to do,” he said, going on to list Republicans who could take his place, including Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The Constitution’s 22nd Amendment says that “no person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice”.
Changing the Constitution would require a two-thirds approval from both the Senate and the House of Representatives, as well as approval from three-quarters of the country’s state-level governments.
However, some Trump supporters suggest there is a loophole in the Constitution, which has been untested in court.
Asked by NBC whether anyone has approached him with these theories, Trump deflected, answering that “in a capacity of being a big supporter, many people have said different things”.
Tariff ‘transition period’
During the interview, Trump also rejected criticism of his handling of the economy.
“Look, yeah. Everything’s OK,” he said after his tariff plan roiled international economies, leading the US economy to shrink for the first time since 2022.
“I said, this is a transition period. I think we’re going to do fantastically,” he added.
Asked if the US economy may continue to shrink, he responded: “Anything can happen. But I think we’re going to have the greatest economy in the history of our country.”
He later added that there is a chance that tariffs may be permanent, telling the interviewer: “If somebody thought they were going to come off the table, why would they build in the United States?”
Trump also denied that Americans will need to prepare to see fewer goods for sale in shops, as the trade war continues.
“No, I’m not saying that. I’m just saying they don’t need to have 30 dolls. They can have three,” he said.
“They don’t need to have 250 pencils. They can have five.”
Questions his due process role
Trump was asked about the Fifth Amendment right to due process under the law, which guarantees certain rights to people accused of committing a crime.
Critics have said his deportation plan has violated this process, and that his administration has removed people who have not yet been charged with any crime, and therefore have not had any opportunity to present a legal defence.
“Don’t you need to uphold the Constitution of the United States as president?” Welker asked, suggesting that he could be disregarding the presidential oath of office, which requires him to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution.”
Trump responded: “I don’t know. I have to respond by saying, again, I have brilliant lawyers that work for me, and they are going to follow what the Supreme Court said, obviously.”
Last month, the Supreme Court ruled that the White House must work to “facilitate” the return of a migrant who was accidentally deported to jail in El Salvador.
The Trump administration has argued that it lacks the authority to force the Central American country to return him to the US.
Trump doesn’t see using military against Canada
Trump said that he could not “rule out” using military force to annexe Greenland, but suggested that he is not considering a military attack on Canada to force the US northern neighbour to become the 51st US state.
“I don’t see it with Canada,” Trump said, days after Canadian voters chose Liberal Party leader Mark Carney as their prime minister, in a stunning rejection of the Conservative Party.
“They think we are going to protect them, and really we are,” Trump continued.
“But the truth is, they don’t carry their full share, and it’s unfair to the United States and our taxpayers.”
Carney is scheduled to visit Trump at the White House on Tuesday.
Defends immigration emergency declaration
Trump was also asked about his decision to declare an immigration state of emergency on his first day in office, and whether the border is now “secure”.
“We have the most secure border we’ve ever had,” he said, leading Welker to question why the emergency declaration remains in place, after immigration figures showed that illegal crossings have plummeted to the lowest levels in decades.
He claimed that the emergency is in the court system, not at the border.
“The big emergency right now is that we have thousands of people that we want to take out, and we have some judges that want everybody to go to court,” he said.
“It’s an overall emergency on immigration,” Trump told NBC, adding that he has no plans to lift the order in the near future.
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