Here's how Trump could serve a third term

Like it or not, there are potential paths for the two-term president to return to the Oval Office.

- Barbara McQuade

Could Mr. Donald Trump really become US president again after his second term ends? The answer is, quite possibly, yes.

The President raised the idea on March 30 during an interview with NBC. Despite a constitutional amendment limiting the election of presidents to two terms, Mr. Trump said: "There are methods which would permit it."

The argument lies in the language of the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, passed after Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to an unprecedented fourth term. Before then, presidents had followed the tradition set by George Washington to step away after two terms. The habit reflected the founders' disdain for kings who inherited their positions and remained in power for life.

The tradition ended when voters clung to Roosevelt during the Great Depression and World War II, perhaps finding comfort in the continuity during tumultuous times. But his death prompted the passage of the constitutional provision, preventing it from happening again.

One of the methods that Mr. Trump may be referring to is repealing the 22nd Amendment. Without term limits, he would be free to run for president as many times as he wanted. But, of course, amending the Constitution is difficult by design. As a result, it has been amended only 27 times since its ratification in 1791, and not at all in the past 33 years. Amending the Constitution requires two-thirds approval by both houses of Congress and three-fourths of the states.