House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday said he has spoken with Donald Trump about the possibility of the president seeking a third-term but that he sees no path for it as any change to the US Constitution would be well after Trump has left office.
“Well, there’s the 22nd Amendment,” Johnson, who is a constitutional lawyer, said in response to a question about his comfort-level with the president floating a 2028 bid.
“It’s been a great run. But I think the president knows, and he and I have talked about, the constrictions of the Constitution, as much as so many of the American people lament that,” he said.
The president, he said, is trolling members of the other party when he talks publicly about the topic.
“The Trump 2028 cap is one of the most popular that’s ever been produced. And he has a good time with that, trolling the Democrats, whose hair is on fire about the very prospect,” he told reporters on Capitol Hill.
The Republican leader’s acknowledgment that he and Trump have discussed issues surrounding a third-term adds credence to warnings from the president’s opponents that he is seriously flirting with upending the Constitution. But Johnson’s quickly throwing cold water on the suggestion underscores how little support Trump would have if he actually tried to move forward with it….
This trolling point is one I’ve raised with reporters. It also may delay people talking about Trump as a lame duck.