Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon has claimed that there are plans underway to help Donald Trump serve a third presidential term, despite the U.S. Constitution’s 22nd Amendment limiting presidents to two.
Bannon hints at plan to bypass term limits
In an interview with The Economist, Bannon said that Americans should “get accommodated” with the idea of “Trump ’28”, insisting that the former president would once again occupy the Oval Office.
“He’s gonna get a third term, Trump ’28. Trump is gonna be president ’28,” Bannon reportedly told the magazine. When asked about the constitutional restriction, he responded, “There’s many different alternatives. At the appropriate time, we’ll lay out what the plan is, but there’s a plan and President Trump will be the president in ’28.”
The White House has not yet commented on Bannon’s statements.
Bannon calls Trump “instrument of divine will”
Bannon, who served as Trump’s chief strategist during the first seven months of his presidency before being dismissed, claimed that Trump’s political comeback was part of a larger destiny.
“The country needs him to be President of the United States. We have to finish what we started,” he said, adding that Trump was “an instrument of divine will,” despite not being “churchy” or “particularly religious.”
Echoes of Trump’s own rhetoric
Bannon’s remarks mirror statements made by Trump and his allies, who have repeatedly alluded to the possibility of a third term. Earlier this week, Trump posted a video on Truth Social implying he would rule not only through 2032 but “forever.”
In a March interview with NBC News, Trump suggested that “a lot of people” wanted him to seek a third term and hinted that there were “methods” to achieve it — without specifying what those might be.
When NBC asked about possible scenarios, including Vice President JD Vance winning the presidency and later ceding power to Trump, the president responded, “That’s one, but there are others, too.”
Legal experts warn against complacency
Constitutional scholar Laurence Tribe, a former Harvard professor, cautioned that the 22nd and 12th Amendments might not fully prevent Trump from serving again.
Writing on X (formerly Twitter) in March, Tribe said, “Anyone discounting a 3rd Trump term per the 22nd and 12th Amendments is thinking magically. The 22nd doesn’t bar serving a 3rd term, only being elected 3 times. The 12th doesn’t bar running for VP unless ‘ineligible’ to serve as President, but Trump isn’t ineligible.”
The remarks have reignited debate in Washington about constitutional safeguards and the limits of executive power, particularly as Trump continues to lead the 2028 Republican field in early polls.