THE NEW YORK TIMES: The claim comes after months of President Trump toying with the idea, insisting that he is “not joking” about defying a constitutionally-mandated term limit.
Stephen K. Bannon, the pro-Trump podcaster and convicted fraudster who briefly served as President Trump’s White House chief strategist in his first term, publicly threw his support behind the president’s talk of seeking a third term, in defiance of a constitutionally mandated two-term limit.
In an interview with The Economist, Mr. Bannon vaguely asserted that there was “a plan” to circumvent the 22nd Amendment, which states that “no person shall be elected to the office of the president more than twice,” regardless of whether the terms are consecutive. He also suggested that he was part of a team developing that plan.
“Trump is going to be president in ’28, and people ought to just get accommodated with that,” he said.
“At the appropriate time, we’ll lay out what the plan is,” said Mr. Bannon, without elaborating. “But there is a plan.” He added that Mr. Trump was an “instrument of divine will,” echoing, as Mr. Trump himself has, the language of the divine right of kings.
Mr. Bannon’s statement comes after months of Mr. Trump publicly toying with the idea of running for a third term. Even as the president insists he is serious, some Republican leaders have dismissed the idea as a joke, noting that the Constitution does not permit it. White House aides have mocked reporters for taking the president at his word.
Mr. Trump has for years publicly and privately joked about being “president for life.” In 2019, Mr. Trump began posting a video on social media of an edited version of a Time magazine cover with imaginary campaign signs for 2024, 2028, 2032 and far beyond. On Sunday, Mr. Trump posted that video again, alongside fake videos depicting him as a king and dumping brown liquid on “No Kings” protesters. » | Chris Cameron | Friday, October 24, 2025
