When asked yesterday about Mr Trump floating the possibility of a third term, which is barred by the Constitution, Johnson replied, “Well, there’s the 22nd Amendment.”
“It’s been a great run, but I think the president knows, and he and I’ve talked about the constraints of the Constitution,” Mr Johnson told reporters, according to Politico.
The 79-year-old president has long been flirting with the idea of a third term, most recently telling reporters Monday on Air Force One that he “would love to do it”.
The comments come as Mr Trump was asked about an interview his ally Steve Bannon gave to The Economist, in which he said Mr Trump would “get a third term” and “be president in ‘28”, which is when the next presidential election is set to be held.
Despite the 22nd Amendment, which prohibits anyone from serving more than two terms as president, Mr Bannon claimed: “At the appropriate time, we’ll lay out what the plan is.”
I think the people wouldn’t like that. It’s too cute
When asked if that was something Mr Trump would be willing to challenge at court to be able to do, Mr Trump replied, “I haven’t really thought about it. We have some very good people, as you know, but I have the best poll numbers I’ve ever had.”
Pressed as to who he was referring to by “good people”, Mr Trump pointed to vice president JD Vance and secretary of state Marco Rubio.
The president then said: “I’m not sure if anybody would run again. I think if they ever formed a group, it would be unstoppable, I do. I really believe that. I would love to do it.”
A reporter then asked if Mr Trump could circumvent the 22nd Amendment by running as the vice president, which Mr Trump said he could but wouldn’t want to: “I would rule that out because it’s too cute. I think the people wouldn’t like that. It’s too cute. It wouldn’t be right.”
However, running with that plan, Mr Trump would run into issues with the 12th Amendment, which states: “No person constitutionally ineligible to the office of the president shall be eligible to that of vice-president of the United States.”
Mr Trump boosted the idea by claiming he “solved” eight wars, an uptick from last month when he took credit for solving seven after he oversaw a peace treaty between Cambodia and Thailand over the weekend.
“I mean, I just solved eight wars and a ninth is coming. I believe Russia-Ukraine will happen,” the president said Monday. “I mean it’s millions of people we saved. I saved the lives of millions of people.”
