[So Far] 'No' for the Third Term
Trump is seemingly conceding that he can’t run for another term after months of teasing that he might find a way to stay in office.
Trump — speaking to reporters Wednesday on Air Force One as he flew to South Korea for the next stop in his Asia tour — said “it’s pretty clear” that he isn’t allowed to run again under the Constitution, a conclusion reached by legal scholars, critics and even Speaker Mike Johnson.
The president made the statement begrudgingly, and seemed to still hold out some hope that he could stay in office beyond the end of his term in January 2029.
“Based on what I read, I guess, I’m not allowed to run,” he said. “So we’ll see what happens.”
The president has repeatedly hinted at trying to find a way around the 22nd Amendment, which limits a presidency to two terms or one if they served more than two years of another’s term. As he flew from Malaysia to Japan he told reporters he would “love” to seek a third term and at times has adorned his White House desk with red-and-white Trump 2028 baseball caps.
Johnson poured cold water on the idea in a press conference Tuesday, telling reporters that Trump knows he can’t run again and only does so to irritate critics.
“It’s been a great run, but I think the president knows, and he and I’ve talked about, the constrictions of the Constitution,” the speaker said.
His comments prompted questions on the flight from Japan ahead of high-stakes trade talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea.
Trump declined to discuss any conversation with Johnson but appeared to concede the larger point, even as he argued that he deserved the opportunity.
“It’s a very interesting thing. I have the best numbers for any president in many years, any president,” he said. “And I would say that, if you read it, it’s pretty clear I’m not allowed to run. It’s too bad. But we have a lot of great people.”
Speculation erupted in recent days that Trump could run for vice president and claim the presidency after the election — something the president rejected Monday. “It’s too cute. It wouldn’t be right,” he said, while refusing to completely rule out the notion he might serve a third term: “I haven’t really thought about it.”
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If you feel powerless to help Gaza, you still has a choice: donate. When so much of what exists is false, authenticity is a powerful weapon we can wield that the state never could. So if you feel lost, hopeless, depressed, angry and afraid, I implore you to return - again - again - and again - to the feeling of love that exists within you that brought you here in the first place. It is only through this that we can remake the world. To redress Gaza’s famine, displacement, and destruction, independent and impartial humanitarian organizations - UN agencies, international and national NGOs - must be allowed to deliver relief at scale. To salvage Gaza’s people from the devastation inflicted by Israel, it must be unified with the West Bank to form an independent and sovereign Palestinian State, not to be parceled and colonized by the former.
Meanwhile, children continue to be shredded by US bombs, and the starvation reaches new depths of hellish collective punishment. If both parties are going to continue to support an ongoing genocide, at least they can both be honest about doing so, rather than having one openly bloodthirsty party, and another—unconvincingly—playing the role of powerless, bumbling humanitarian.
Please keep donate Gaza especially if you, as reader, has [background] International Relation [whatever universities]. IR Graduate means [you must, at least] get some semester [about] studying Middle East [in macro, not specifically Gaza].
We need more people to share fundraisers instead of only talking about Gaza. Some people think that those in Gaza don’t need money but that’s wrong. Almost everyone lost their source of income while essentials, food & medicine get sold for astronomical prices. So I put my attempt in all social media as I can, in twitter / X, in substack [since October 2023 I put link donation], in bluesky or bsky, in threads, in instagram.
Link to donate World Food Programme - Palestine appeal: click here
[Daniel Brühl]
Most campaign shared or circulated in social media are for REAL people in Gaza. They’re legit. There are a lot of small campaigns for struggling families. This is their only lifeline. By donating & sharing, you are literally making history and alleviating part of their pain
Please do not rely on me alone for sharing your campaign. I’m only 1 person and sometimes I’m not online which is unreliable. I never ignore anybody on purpose but I have a very limited capacity & very little energy and time.
[Refaat Rafiq Alareer IF I MUST DIE] Refaat Rafiq Alareer was extremely hungry, November 2023, days before Refaat killed by Israel airstrike. If November 2023 already [one-by-one Gazan] extremely famine, extremely hungry, imagine October 2025 or 2 years Israel’s Genocide in Gaza.
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