President Donald Trump did not rule out the possibility of seeking a third term in the White House, telling NBC News that there were methods for doing so and clarifying that he was “not joking.”
A third presidential term is prohibited by the Constitution under the 22nd Amendment.
“A lot of people want me to do it,” Trump said in a Sunday-morning phone call with NBC News, referring to his allies. “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,” Trump added, in some of his most extensive comments to date about serving a third term.
When asked whether he wanted another term, the president responded, “I like working.”
"I'm not joking," Trump told the news outlet. "But I'm not- it is far too early to think about it."
When asked whether he has been presented with plans to allow him to seek a third term, Trump said, “There are methods which you could do it.”
Meanwhile, about half of American adults approve of how Trump is handling immigration, exceeding his approval on the issue during his first term. But 40% approve of his handling of the economy, dropping to its lowest level since December of 2017, according to a recent AP/NORC poll.
Around 40% of the public support Trump’s handling of the federal government, trade negotiations with other countries, the conflicts between Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Palestine and Social Security.
The poll also found that Republicans overwhelmingly support Trump’s policies while Democrats largely oppose them. Among Republicans, Trump’s weakest area is trade negotiations, with 27% disapproving. Among Democrats, his strongest issue is immigration, with 18% approving his approach.
Trump and Elon Musk’s favorability ratings both sit close to 40%, the poll found.
The nationwide poll was conducted March 20-24 using the AmeriSpeak® Panel, the probability-based panel of NORC at the University of Chicago. Online and telephone interviews using landlines and cell phones were conducted with 1,229 adults. The overall margin of sampling error is +/- 3.9 percentage points.
