Is it possible for Trump to serve a third term in office?

Not quite three months into his second term of office, Donald Trump has been dropping hints that he might actually run again, in 2028, and serve if elected. On any reasonable reading of the US constitution, that would be impossible; but, as ever, Trump won't let a little thing like that get in the way.

- SEAN O'GRADY

Although recent events may mean that he becomes so obscenely unpopular that another term would be out of the question anyway, he’s made one Lazarus-style political comeback, and he might make another. Certainly the fanbase thinks so...

Why would he want to run again?

He likes the power and the opportunities it offers, to “make America great again” and to further his own and his family’s ambitions, perhaps even creating a Trump dynasty. He’d also enjoy the bragging rights of having won more contests and served more terms than any president since Franklin Roosevelt. FDR won a fourth consecutive term in 1944, and died in office in April 1945.

For the more devoted members of the Maga movement, it is very much a personality cult, and, as such, even the likes of JD Vance are regarded with suspicion. For true believers, only Donald J Trump counts, and they might well not vote for some mediocre substitute.

What does the constitution say?

In what was an act of posthumous spite against FDR and the Democrats, the Republicans secured the 22nd amendment to the constitution in 1951. It was so tightly drawn as to seem to permit no exceptions, eg for a non-consecutive third term, such as Trump may be planning for himself.