The current occupant of the Oval Office, Donald Trump, has been sending mixed messages about his political future. Although the U.S. Constitution clearly limits presidents to two elected terms, Trump has hinted several times that he might seek another four years in power.
In a May interview, the 79-year-old leader declared, “I’ll be a two-term president. I always thought that was very important.” Yet by August, his tone had shifted again, telling CNBC’s Squawk Box: “I’d like to run… I have the best poll numbers I’ve ever had.”
Earlier in March, Trump appeared to joke though perhaps not entirely about the possibility of finding a way to serve again. “A lot of people want me to do it,” he said. “We have a long way to go it’s still early in the administration.”
However, experts say that the law is clear. The 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states:
“No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.”
This amendment was ratified in 1951 after Franklin D. Roosevelt’s unprecedented four terms in office. It makes any talk of a third term unconstitutional, unless the law itself were to be changed a process requiring approval by three-fourths of U.S. states, which is highly unlikely.
Neuropsychologist Dr. Narinder Kapur told the Express that the issue isn’t just legal it’s also about health and capability. By the end of another term, Trump would be 87 years old. “That would really be going beyond the pale,” he said, noting that the number of Trump’s verbal errors and factual mix-ups, such as mistaking Alaska for Russia before a meeting with Vladimir Putin, are “almost certainly going to increase.”
Dr. Kapur added, “I suspect the number of things he’s saying and doing would be really quite significant. So I don’t think he would be in a category of a super-age.”
While Trump’s hints of extending his time in office stir headlines, the U.S. Constitution and basic medical reality both suggest that two terms will remain the limit.
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