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By Khaleda Rahman
National Correspondent
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Republicans have ramped up talk of President Donald Trump running for a third term.
In an interview on NewsNation’s Batya!, Steve Bannon, a Trump ally who was a senior adviser to him during his first administration, repeated his claim that there are “many different alternatives” that would allow the president to serve again.
It comes after Representative Randy Fine, a Florida Republican, called for the repeal of the 22nd Amendment to allow Trump to run for president once more.
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Why It Matters
The 22nd Amendment says that “no person shall be elected to the office of the president more than twice.” But Trump, who will be 82 when his second term ends, has given mixed signals about whether he would consider an attempt to run again in 2028.
A bid to amend the U.S. Constitution to allow Trump to run again would face a high bar, since it would require approval from a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate, along with the support of three-quarters of state legislatures.
What To Know
In the interview, released on Saturday, Bannon said he believes it will be possible for Trump to run for a third term despite the 22nd Amendment’s prohibition.
But he did not elaborate, saying that those plans would be rolled out “at the appropriate time.”
He said: “I think there are many different alternatives to make sure that President Trump is on the ballot, and if he’s on the ballot, he’ll win.”
Asked if his support was in the context of legal means, Bannon said: “Well, yeah. I mean… it’s going to have to be legal right?”
He added: “I don’t think there’s any illegal means that you could actually do that the American people support. And this has to be supported by a broad spectrum of the American people.”
James Sample, a constitutional law expert and professor at Hofstra University’s School of Law, told Newsweek that Bannon is “likely referring to far-fetched ideas aimed at circumventing the prohibition by emphasizing the prohibition’s use of the world ‘elected.’”
He said that one version of the workaround suggests someone like Vice President JD Vance would run "as a false-pretense ticket, only to immediately step down in serial succession to be replaced in service but not election as President by Mr. Trump.”
Sample said: “Voters tolerate a multitude of lies from politicians generally, and Mr. Trump specifically, but the American people are too smart to fall for a sham campaign based entirely on such a ruse.”
Other allies have also floated the idea of Trump serving a third stint since he returned to office in January, while a Republican group called the “Third Term Project” earlier this year rallied support for a Republican Representative Andy Ogles’ proposal for a constitutional amendment that would allow the president to seek office again.
Trump said in an interview with NBC News in March that he was “not joking” about running for a third term and that there are “methods” that would allow it.
But he told CNBC’s Squawk Box in August that he would “probably not” run again.
What People Are Saying
Steve Bannon said on NewsNation: “I think that there are many different alternatives that, at the appropriate time, after the midterms, we will roll out. I think there are many different alternatives to make sure that President Trump is on the ballot, and if he’s on the ballot, he’ll win.”
He added: “I fully intend to see President Trump on the ballot in 2028 and to return to office to continue the great run he's had as 47th president United States.”
Representative Randy Fine wrote on X on Wednesday: “The Nobel Peace Prize isn’t enough. If every living hostage is returned and lasting peace in the Middle East is secured, we should repeal the 22nd Amendment and thank the Lord for every day @realdonaldtrump can be our President. There will never be another one like him.”
James Sample, a constitutional law expert and professor at Hofstra University’s School of Law, told Newsweek that “the prohibition on third presidential terms, on the contrary, is clear and unequivocal. The first sentence of Section 1 of the 22nd Amendment is as straightforward as can be—no person shall be elected to the office of president more than twice. Donald Trump cannot be elected to a third term.”
Sample said the odds of repealing the 22nd Amendment in the current political moment “are precisely zero. Congress is presently failing to generate the modest majorities required to end a government shutdown, much less achieving two-thirds supermajorities in both houses, and much, much less doing so to enable an extension of a historically unpopular and divisive presidency.”
Rick Hasen, a professor of law at the University of California, Los Angeles, told Newsweek: "There is no way legally for Trump to serve a third term. If he is able to do so, it means that the Supreme Court has capitulated to an unconstitutional route for Trump. I don’t expect Trump to run in any case. The Constitution will not be amended in time for the 2028 elections to allow Trump to run for a third term."
He added: "I think this talk is meant to try to stop people from treating Trump as a lame duck president."
What’s Next
Any effort to allow Trump to run for a third term would be difficult to pull off, and would likely prompt legal challenges to ensure he remains off the ballot in 2028.
But the comments highlight ongoing questions about Trump’s political future.
Update 10/13/25, 11 a.m. ET: This article has been update to add comment from Rick Hasen.
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