Could Trump serve a third term as president?

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. President Trump says he isn’t joking about considering a third term in office. The Constitution forbids him from running again, but the notion that he could legally extend his presidency isn’t entirely laughable either, according to some legal scholars.

Here’s what to know about the prospects of Trump returning to office after his term expires. Trump, speaking to reporters Sunday, said his supporters were encouraging him to seek another term. “I’m not looking at that but I’ll tell you, I have had more people ask me to have a third term," he said.

He later told NBC News that it is “too early to think about it" but said if he wanted to try to stay in power, “there are methods which you could do it." The 22nd Amendment, ratified in 1951, states, “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice." Republican lawmakers drafted the amendment in 1947 after recapturing Congress the year before. They wanted to prevent another president from entrenching power in the manner of Franklin D. Roosevelt, a Democrat who was elected an unprecedented four times and died in office in 1945 after more than 12 years in the White House.

No president before FDR had ever served more than eight years. His successor, President Harry Truman, thought term limits were driven by “Roosevelt haters," but enough Democrats provided support to send the amendment to the states for ratification. There is no debate that the 22nd Amendment renders Trump ineligible for election to a third term.