US President-elect Donald Trump suggested on Wednesday that he could be open to a constitution-breaking third term in office, in remarks made to House Republicans ahead of the start of his second term.
"I suspect I won't be running again unless you say, 'He's good, we got to figure something else,'" Trump provocatively told his audience in a downtown Washington hotel, drawing some laughter from supporters.
Back in Washington for the first time since his election victory, Trump told the GOP lawmakers, “It’s nice to win.”
Trump received a standing ovation from House Republicans, many of whom took cellphone videos of him as ran through their party's victories up and down the ballot, in what would be, under the constitutional limits, his final presidential election.
What does the US constitution say
The US Constitution, specifically the 22nd Amendment, establishes clear limitations on the number of terms a president can serve. Ratified in 1951, the amendment states:
Section 1: "No person shall be elected to the office of the 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 some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once".
This amendment was largely a response to Franklin D. Roosevelt's unprecedented four terms in office, which raised concerns about prolonged executive power. The framers intended to prevent any future president from serving more than two elected terms, thereby ensuring a rotation in leadership and avoiding any potential for an "elective monarchy".
Section 2: "This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission to the States by the Congress".
Implications for a Third Term
Given this constitutional framework, a president who has already been elected twice is legally prohibited from running for a third term. For instance, Donald Trump, who has been elected for his second term in 2024, cannot seek re-election in 2028 due to this restriction.
Trump's return to White House
The Republican returned to Washington after defeating his Democrat rival Kamala Harris.
After his speech to GOP lawmakers, Trump made his way to the White House.
President Joe Biden welcomed Trump to the White House where both leaders assured there would be a "peaceful transition of power".
The current president inviting the president-elect has been customary practice to ensure peaceful handoff of power. However, this was not done by Trump four years agon when he lost to the Democrats.
Earlier in 2016, Trump met President Barack Obama in the Oval Office after his victory when he defeated Hillary Clinton, describing it as "a great honour." However, he subsequently resumed criticising Obama, including unsubstantiated allegations of campaign surveillance.
Trump contested his 2020 defeat to Biden, persistently making unfounded claims about voter fraud. He neither invited then President-elect Biden to the White House nor attended his inauguration - the first such absence since Andrew Johnson missed Ulysses S Grant's ceremony 155 years ago.
Biden however pledged full cooperation for a smooth transition to Trump's administration, despite having campaigned extensively against Trump, portraying him as a threat to democratic values.