BURSTSpeaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Tuesday that President Trump recognizes the constraints that prevent him from seeking a third term, saying it is a “high bar” to change the Constitution.
“There's a constitutional path. You have to amend the Constitution to do it, and that's a high bar,” Johnson, a former constitutional litigator, said at a press conference Tuesday when asked if there was a way for Trump to seek a third term.
Amending the Constitution would take either support from two-thirds of each chamber of Congress — meaning significant support from Democrats — or a convention called by two-thirds of state legislators that approve an amendment, before needing three-quarters of states to ratify the amendment.
Johnson was responding to Trump’s comments to NBC News over the weekend in which he said he was “not joking” about seeking a third term, after repeatedly floating one.
“A lot of people want me to do it,” Trump said, pointing to his supporters. “But, I mean, I basically tell them we have a long way to go, you know, it’s very early in the administration. … I’m focused on the current.”
Johnson, though, said some of his conversations with Trump about the topic were jovial.
“The president and I have talked about this, joked about it. He's joked about it with me on stage before,” Johnson said. “You know, we take him at his word.”
“I understand why so many Americans do wish that he could run for a third term, because he's accomplishing so much in this first 100 days that they wish it could go on for much longer,” Johnson said. “But I think he recognizes the constitutional limitations, and I'm not sure that there's a move about to amend the Constitution.”
One Republican, Rep. Andy Ogles (Tenn.), has proposed a constitutional amendment that would allow Trump to seek a third term. It was carefully worded to only allow a president who has served two nonconsecutive terms to seek a third one, which would prevent former Presidents Obama and Bush from returning.
One of the several times that Trump has floated a third term was at a House GOP policy retreat in January, when he said he thought he was not allowed to run again, before turning to Johnson: “Am I allowed to run again, Mike?” Trump said, before adding, “I better not get you involved in that.”
Johnson in January brushed off that third term suggestion at a fireside chat with The Hill, saying Trump was “having sport with the media” and that it was “clearly tongue-in-cheek.”