Trump Wants 3 Periods As US President, Will It Change The Constitution?

US President Donald Trump/PHOTO via Instagram @whitehouse

JAKARTA - US President Donald Trump insists he is seriously running for president for a third term, which the US Constitution prohibits. But Trump said it was too early to think about it.

Trump, who took office on January 20 for his second White House term, has signaled his bid to run for a third term in a phone interview with NBC News.

"No, I'm not kidding. I'm not kidding," Trump said.

"But) it's too early to think about it."

"There are several methods you can do, as you know," he said, refusing to elaborate on specific methods.

The US president is limited to two four-year terms, in a row or not, according to the 22nd Amendment to the US Constitution.

The proposal to cancel constitutional amendments requires a two-thirds vote in both congressional assemblies and ratifications by legislative bodies from three-quarters of the US 50 states.

Some Trump allies have come up with the idea of keeping Trump at the White House after 2028.

Trump has also put the idea on a number of occasions in a way that seems to insinuate his political opponents.

Trump, who at the age of 78 was the oldest US president to be sworn in, would be 82 if he held a four-year term after the November 2028 general election.

George Washington in 1796 was a precedent for a two-term presidential term, a self-determined limit obeyed by most US presidents for more than 140 years to Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940.

Roosevelt, a Democrat who became president during the Great Depression and World War 2, violated tradition and served for a third term, then died months after his fourth term in 1945.

This paved the way for amendments to the term of office limit in 1951.

Trump's longtime adviser Steve Bannon said in an interview on March 19 with NewsNation, he was confident Trump would run again in 2028.

Bannon said he and others were looking for ways to make it happen, including examining definitions of term limits.