Former President Donald Trump achieved victory in the 2024 presidential election, securing another four years in the White House, but can he make it eight?
In short, probably not.
The 22nd Amendment to the United States Constitution, introduced in 1951, prohibits presidents from serving more than two terms in total.
The rule states that “no person shall be elected to the office of President more than twice” and “no person who has held the office of President or acted as President for more than two years of a term to which any other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of President more than once.’
Since Trump was the 45th president of the United States from 2016 to 2020 and will soon be the 47th president starting in 2024, he will have reached his term peak in 2028.
However, the incoming leader has suggested that a third term is not completely out of the question.
Former President Donald Trump achieved victory in the 2024 presidential election, securing another four years in the White House, but can he make it eight?
Trump’s election victory on Wednesday also makes him the first president in more than 130 years (and only the second in history) to win a second non-consecutive term.
Supporters of Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, Stephanie Smith, left, Sandi Steinbeck, center, and Thomas Brewer, right, cheer during a Republican Party election watch party at the Ahern Hotel, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024 , in Las Vegas.
The 78-year-old reflected on being a “three-term president” during a National Rifle Association event in May.
To achieve this, he would need to repeal the 22nd Amendment, which would involve an arduous political process that would likely be unsuccessful.
Trump would have to get two-thirds of the vote in both houses of Congress or a constitutional convention called by two-thirds of state legislatures to even propose a new amendment.
This would then require the approval of three-quarters of the state legislatures or state conventions.
The former president also previously indicated that he would retire after 2028 rather than challenge the 22nd Amendment.
‘I wouldn’t be in favor of a challenge. Not for me. “I wouldn’t be in favor of it at all,” he said. Time magazine in April of this year.
‘I intend to serve four years and do a great job. And I want our country back. “I want to put him back on the right path.”
Donald Trump regained the White House on Wednesday after being declared the winner of the 2024 US presidential election shortly after 5:30 a.m.
Supporters of Republican Party candidate Donald Trump celebrate as Republican candidate Donald Trump surpassed the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the 2024 US presidential election in New York, the United States, on November 6, 2024.
Trump’s election victory on Wednesday makes him the first president in more than 130 years – and only the second in history – to win a second non-consecutive term.
Only one other American president was re-elected after a four-year gap between terms.
That was Grover Cleveland, who was the 22nd president after the 1884 election and the 24th president after the 1892 campaign.
Cleveland was governor of New York when he was elected the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate in 1884.
He was known for pushing for a reduction in tariffs that had been implemented during the Civil War, although his second term was marred by economic depressions and industrial strikes.
The 78-year-old politician will also become the oldest president ever inaugurated, surpassing President Joe Biden’s record by five months.