Donald Trump 'not' looking to run for third term

US President Donald Trump said in an interview airing on Sunday that he is not seriously considering running for a constitutionally-barred third White House term, after musing publicly over the idea.

"This is not something I'm looking to do," he told NBC News "Meet the Press" moderator Kristen Welker, according to released excerpts, adding: "I'm looking to have four great years and turn it over to somebody, ideally a great Republican, a great Republican to carry it forward."

Trump said in remarks that he does not know whether he must uphold the US Constitution, the nation's founding legal document.

In a wide-ranging NBC News interview, the 78-year-old Republican also said he was not seriously considering running for a constitutionally-barred third White House term, and blamed his presidential predecessor Joe Biden for the "bad parts" of the current economy.

Trump has drawn widespread criticism for repeatedly brushing up against constitutional guardrails since returning to the White House in January, notably over his policy of mass deportations of undocumented migrants, some without the benefit of a court hearing.

He insists such rapid expulsions are necessary in the face of what he has declared to be a "national emergency," and that giving every migrant a court trial would take "300 years."

When NBC's "Meet the Press" moderator Kristen Welker asked if people in the United States — citizens and non-citizens alike — deserve the due process of law, as the US Constitution states, Trump said: "I'm not a lawyer. I don't know." Pressed more generally on whether he believes he needs to uphold the supreme law of the land, Trump repeated: "I don't know."

The remarks in the interview — recorded on Friday and broadcast on Sunday — quickly made waves in Washington, including among some Republicans.

"We're either a free society governed by the Constitution or we're not," Republican Senator Rand Paul, a self-described constitutional conservative, posted on X without additional comment. 

No third term?

Trump's suggestion of possibly seeking a third term has been sharply questioned by legal and constitutional scholars.

The 22nd Amendment states that "no person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice." But Trump said in March he was "not joking" about seeking a third term, adding there are "methods" that would allow it to happen. Changing the Constitution to allow a third term would be difficult, requiring a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress and ratification by at least 38 of the 50 states. But "this is not something I'm looking to do," Trump told NBC — even while acknowledging that the Trump Organisation's official store is selling red "Trump 2028" hats.

Agence France-Presse