Steve Bannon, a former White House chief strategist for Donald Trump, has publicly endorsed the idea of the president serving a third term, claiming a “plan” is being developed to circumvent the constitutional two-term limit.
The comments from Bannon, a prominent pro-Trump media figure who was convicted of fraud, come after months of the president himself floating the idea of running for a third term, despite the 22nd Amendment to the US Constitution, which states that “no person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.”
In an interview with The Economist, Bannon said vaguely that a “plan” existed to get around the amendment and that he was part of a working group developing it.
“Trump will be president in 2028, and people need to get used to it,” Bannon said. “In due course, we will explain what the plan is, but there is a plan.” He also described Trump as an “instrument of divine will,” an echo of previous remarks made by the president himself, according to The New York Times.
Although he does not always align with the administration’s positions—having questioned, for example, the military campaign against drug traffickers and the ending of the Jeffrey Epstein investigation—Bannon remains an influential figure in far-right circles. He was one of the most prominent voices promoting Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen, which culminated in the 6 January 2021, attack on the US Capitol.
Trump has previously embraced fringe ideas initially floated by his far-right allies. Before the 2024 election, for instance, he insisted he had “nothing to do with Project 2025,” a controversial right-wing policy blueprint. However, he later adopted many of its policies and appointed one of its architects, Russ Vought, as his White House budget director, recently boasting of Vought’s connection to the project.
Trump’s third-term hints
Bannon’s statements follow months of Trump’s own public hints about the possibility of a third term. While the president has insisted he is serious, several Republican leaders have dismissed the remarks as a “joke,” pointing to the clear constitutional prohibition. Some White House aides have mocked journalists for taking Trump’s comments seriously.
Trump has often joked with reporters about being “president for life.” In 2019, he posted an edited video of a Time magazine cover on social media showing a succession of campaign signs with years like 2024, 2028, 2032, and beyond. He reposted that video last Sunday, along with others depicting him as a king.
At other times, Trump has said he would not run again. When asked by a New York Times reporter on election day last year if the 2024 campaign would be his last, he replied, “I think so.”
Analysts suggest that Trump’s floating of a third term may be an attempt to avoid being perceived as a lame-duck president with waning political influence.
