Steve Bannon, a former senior adviser to US President Donald Trump, has claimed that Trump will return to the White House for a “third term” in 2028, despite the US Constitution explicitly limiting presidents to two terms.
In an interview with The Economist published on Thursday, Bannon said Trump’s leadership was essential for the country and insisted that plans were already in place to make it happen.
“He’s gonna get a third term,” Bannon said. “Trump is gonna be president in ’28, and people just sort of need to get accommodated with that.”
When asked about the 22nd Amendment, which prohibits anyone from being elected president more than twice, Bannon suggested there was a strategy to circumvent the restriction, saying details would be revealed “at the appropriate time.”
“Instrument of divine will”
Bannon described Trump as an “instrument of divine will,” adding that it was the “will of the American people” for him to continue leading the country.
“We had longer odds in 2016 and longer odds in 2024 than we’ve got in 2028,” Bannon said. “We have to finish what we started.”
He also appeared to question the constitutionality of the ban itself.
“If the American people, with the mechanisms we have, put Trump back in office, are the American people tearing up the Constitution?” he asked.
The 22nd Amendment, ratified in 1951 after Franklin D. Roosevelt’s four-term presidency, clearly stipulates that “no person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.”
Legal experts say there is no constitutional path for a third elected term, though some Trump allies have floated theories about succession or reinterpretation of the amendment.
Trump, who is currently serving his second term, has not publicly endorsed or discussed the idea of seeking a third stint in office.
