It’s January 20, 2029, and an 82-year-old man, supported by his glamorous decades-younger wife, steps up to take the oath of office on the steps of the Capitol.
It was impossible, the experts said, but somehow Donald Trump found a way. He swears, for the third time, to ‘protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.’
If some in the MAGAsphere are to be believed, then this scenario is not only feasible – it’s going to happen.
However, behind the scenes a vicious war has broken out between the so-called ’28ers’ – those trying to circumvent the Constitution to keep the president in office – and others who believe there is no route to a third term, and that MAGA can successfully move on without its enigmatic founder at the helm.
Now, it appears there may be a victor in the internecine struggle and, in a blow to the ’28ers’, the president himself has appeared to publicly accept there is not a path, although he has not quite ruled it out completely.
Chief among the ’28ers’ publicly pushing for a third term has been Steve Bannon, who served as Trump’s chief strategist at the start of his first term.
Last month, Bannon lit up the debate when he told The Economist there was a ‘plan’ and that Trump would be president in 2028.
Behind the scenes a vicious war has broken out between the so-called ’28ers’ – those trying to circumvent the Constitution to keep the president in office – and others who believe there is no route to a third term for Trump (pictured at his 2025 inauguration)
Chief among the ’28ers’ publicly pushing for a third term has been Steve Bannon (pictured with Trump in 2017), who served as Trump’s chief strategist at the start of his first term
Although he did not reveal details, he did drop one potential hint for how it could happen.
‘The only way President Trump wins in 2028 and continues to serve in office is by the will of the American people,’ Bannon said. ‘And the will of the the American people is what the Constitution embodies, so I believe we’ll be in good hands there.’
It is speculation, of course, but it does raise the question of whether Trump could simply run and win.
If he did, according to constitutional experts, his opponents would file a lawsuit and it would ultimately be up to the Supreme Court – which has a 6-3 conservative majority – to uphold the 22nd Amendment, which limits a president to two terms.
In doing so, it could be argued by Trump that the court would be blocking the will of the people as freely expressed at the ballot box.
Another similar scenario could see Trump run as an independent candidate, leading to a three-way split in the presidential vote and no candidate securing a needed majority of 270 in the Electoral College.
In that case, it would be up to the House of Representatives to decide the presidency, with each state delegation getting one vote.
According to at least one constitutional expert the Daily Mail spoke to, it could be argued that the 22nd Amendment does not apply in such circumstances because Trump would be chosen by the House, rather than ‘elected’ for a third time.
In any case, Trump appeared to squash ‘third term’ chatter last week.
He did so on Air Force One last Monday, as he himself was squashed between two cabinet members in a doorway somewhere over the Sea of Japan.
‘I don’t want to talk about that,’ he said when a reporter asked about a third term, displaying an unusual reluctance to discuss the subject.
‘If you read it [the Constitution], it’s pretty clear, I’m not allowed to run. It’s too bad,’ he said. ‘But we have a lot of great people.’
He then named Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
For many observers, that appeared to be that. But inside Trump circles, those skeptical of a third term have now brought the knives out for Bannon.
‘Trump has lost his patience with Bannon. He’s among an irritable group who claim to speak for and to the President more than they actually do,’ one source close to Trump claimed.
‘Bannon likes people to think of him as the voice of MAGA – but there’s only one voice of MAGA: Donald Trump. Talk of 2028 doesn’t helping Trump, it only helps Bannon – it means that instead of three more years of airtime, Bannon gets seven more years of attention.’
Trump appeared to squash ‘third term’ chatter last week. He did so on Air Force One as he himself was squashed between two cabinet members in a doorway somewhere over the Sea of Japan
He then named Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio (pictured in January 2025)
A source close to Bannon denied those claims as ‘totally false.’
‘Whoever’s saying that just has an agenda against him [Trump], and probably their own selfish agenda for 2028, or the direction of the Republican Party, and wants to move it into a less MAGA place,’ the source said.
The White House did not respond to requests for comment.
Nonetheless, this is a prime example of how heated feelings have become on the subject of a third term.
For those on both sides of the ‘Trump 2028’ fence, the key question has always been where Trump himself stand.
Indeed, there is one theory that all along the notion was simply a giant exercise in trolling.
As a political tactic it has served three valuable purposes for the president.
First, it has helped stave off the ‘lame duck’ status that afflicts all second-term presidents.
Second, it has allowed him to change the national conversation in times when he is being heavily criticized. It has been noticeable how Trump, a master media manipulator, has tended to comment on the subject when he has been being pilloried about something else.
And third, it has been a fruitful way of triggering Democratic opponents, which has been a source of much amusement to the president and his coterie.
On top of that, red ‘Trump 2028’ hats are selling well too.
Aides who believe Trump never had any real intention of seeking a third term point out that he would be aged 86 by the end of it, and that the last thing he wants is to become an aging figure of ridicule like Joe Biden.
But the pull of the White House is strong and Trump’s mind could change the closer he gets to leaving.
Indeed, while flying over the Sea of Japan, Trump left the door slightly ajar.
He said: ‘I would love to do it. I have the best [polling] numbers ever. Am I not ruling it out? You’ll have to tell me.’
The text of the 22nd Amendment is very clear. It states the following: ‘No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.’
It was ratified in 1951 and was a direct response to Franklin Delano Roosevelt having been elected four times – on the third and fourth occasions during war time.
Until recently, the likeliest way for Trump to circumvent that was the so-called ‘VP route.’
That would see him run as vice president, with a loyal acolyte at the top of the ticket who would resign the day after the election, allowing Trump to succeed to the presidency.
It has been argued that the 12th Amendment would still prevent Trump from standing as vice president.
That amendment says: ‘No person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice President of the United States.’
‘Trump has lost his patience with Bannon. He’s among an irritable group who claim to speak for and to the President more than they actually do,’ one source close to Trump claimed
But the 12th Amendment was ratified in 1804, more than a century before the 22nd.
It could therefore be argued that the 12th Amendment was originally intended simply to ensure for a vice president the same eligibility that was already laid down for a president – that they be a natural-born citizen and at least 35-years-old.
However, this week Trump specifically ruled out the ‘VP route,’ calling it ‘too cute’ and suggesting voters would not like it.
‘It is interesting that he [Bannon] is so confident and Mr Trump is perhaps unusually coy. So I don’t know what to make of that,’ constitutional expert Professor Bruce Peabody told the Daily Mail.
‘We don’t know what kind of ships they have, political or otherwise, but surely, there’s enough kind of tether there that Bannon is not operating in a total vacuum. He must have some connections to some folks that have Trump’s ear, at the very least.
‘I guess, whatever else Steve Bannon is thinking, it’s useful to have the president with kind of his full political juice flowing. This is a specter hanging over the Republican Party, never mind the Democratic Party, and it makes Mr Trump relevant. That’s a smart move. There’s some tradition of presidents losing steam in their second term, almost shortly after Inauguration Day, so it would be a smart way to to keep that relevance and tension. I would be surprised if this is the last word we hear on this issue.’
Professor Peabody said one other potential method could involve changing the Succession Act of 1947, which establishes the order of presidential succession through the Vice President, the House Speaker and the cabinet.
‘It’s not crazy to say that a Congress might consider revising such a law to include twice elected presidents,’ he said. ‘Arguably, those individuals have more experience to deal with a crisis.
‘You wouldn’t have to have an agreement in advance that the president and vice president resign, but you can imagine a scenario where they don’t do well, they’re not popular, and then they decide to resign, or he’s simply on the kind of back burn.’
If Trump simply ran and won, there would be a possibility to argue before the Supreme Court that the 22nd Amendment was invalid.
The process for amendments is covered in Article V of the Constitution, which reads: ‘The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution.’
It does not specify whether that is two-thirds of those voting, or two-thirds of all members of Congress.
When the Senate passed the proposal for the 22nd Amendment in 1947 it did so 59-23, which was two-thirds of those voting, but not two-thirds of all senators.
However, Professor Peabody said that would be unlikely to sway the Supreme Court.
‘You could argue it. [But] there’s nothing in the Senate rules or the Constitution that stipulates that that number be based on the full membership rather than a quorum.
‘The other obvious peril of that line of thinking is it would jeopardize much of the 16 amendments since then, so I don’t think that’s likely to win.’
Overturning the 22nd Amendment in Congress is widely regarded as impossible because it would require a new amendment backed by two-thirds of the House and Senate, and three quarters of state legislatures.
On Tuesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson, himself a constitutional lawyer, said he had spoken about it to Trump.
‘I don’t see a way to amend the Constitution, because it takes about 10 years to do that, So, I don’t see the path for that,’ he said.
‘It’s been a great run but I think the president knows, and he and I have talked about, the constrictions of the Constitution, as much as so many of the American people lament that.’
On Tuesday, House Speaker Mike Johnson, himself a constitutional lawyer, said he had spoken about it to Trump: ‘I don’t see a way to amend the Constitution, because it takes about 10 years to do that, So, I don’t see the path for that’
If Trump simply ran and won, there would be a possibility to argue before the Supreme Court that the 22nd Amendment was invalid
Regardless, Trump would be far from the first president to take umbrage with the two-term limit.
The framers did not include a limit in the original Constitution, and Alexander Hamilton and James Madison thought that the President should serve for life.
Shortly after the 22nd Amendment was ratified in 1951, President Dwight Eisenhower objected to it, saying the electorate ‘ought to be able to choose for its President anybody that it wants, regardless of the number of terms he has served.’
He even raised the possibility of running as Vice President in 1960, and then reassuming office for a third time himself.
Eisenhower said: ‘The only thing I know about the presidency the next time is this: I can’t run. But someone has raised the question that were I invited, could I constitutionally run for Vice President.’
He later said the Justice Department had looked into it and concluded it would be ‘absolutely legal for me to do so,’ although in the end he did not do it.
Later, President Ronald Reagan called the 22nd Amendment ‘ridiculous’ and suggested it ‘interfered with the democratic rights of the people.’
He said: ‘Two times isn’t necessarily enough time to get all you want done, done. I still had things to do when I left.’
Bill Clinton, who was only 54 when he left office after two terms, in 2001, has said he wanted to run a third time, and believes he would have won.
He has argued for presidents to only be limited to two consecutive terms, and be allowed to serve further non-consecutive ones.
One of those convinced that the prospect of Trump seeking a third term is real, is Bill’s wife Hillary Clinton.
‘Listen to what Trump says,’ she said recently. ‘He has people right now in these right-wing think tanks trying to figure out how to make it happen. I think you have to take all of it seriously.’
She went on to suggest that maybe Democrats should go all-in on the idea too.
‘The best response might be for Barack [Obama] and Bill to run too. I mean, OK, take your choice. What do you want for a third term, people? If this is where we’re heading, we’re going to break the Constitution, give people a choice.’
