Trump says hes not joking about third term and notes this apparent loophole: There are methods

WASHINGTON — President Trump said he’s “not joking” about serving a third term in the White House — and thinks there’s a loophole to make it happen.Trump, 78, told NBC’s Kristen Welker in a Sunday morning phone call that “a lot of people want me to do it.”Trump claimed that “there are methods which you could do it,” including having Vice President JD Vance, 40, run for president with Trump as his vice president.Vance would then resign to allow Trump to regain the top job.“But there are others too,” Trump said, without further elaboration.The 22nd Amendment, ratified in 1951, says “no person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice” — allowing for the potential loophole of Vance resigning in Trump’s favor.“I mean, I basically tell them we have a long way to go, you know, it’s very early in the administration.

I’m focused on the current,” the president said.Trump explained he’s interested in potentially serving as president until 2033 because “I like working.”“I’m not joking,” the billionaire developer and former reality TV star told Welker.“But I’m not — it is far too early to think about it.”Trump has repeatedly mentioned potentially serving a third term, though initially the idea was perceived as a way to troll Democrats and to avoid the perception that he’s a term-limited lame duck, which would sap his influence as politicians court potential successors.

The president has been greeted at several recent public events with chants of “four more years!” in recognition of that notion.Franklin Delano Roosevelt is the only American president elected to more than two terms — dying partway through his fourth.Presidents traditionally served just two terms, following George Washington’s example, until FDR’s presidency, which prompted the Constitution to be amended to make it a rule.Trump, the second president in US history to serve non-consecutive terms, is set to be the olde...