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Donald Trump said on Monday morning that he would rule out running for the vice-presidency in the 2028 US election, an unorthodox approach that some of his supporters have floated to allow the Republican US president to serve a third term in the White House.
“I’d be allowed to do that,” Trump said, in an exchange with reporters aboard Air Force One while traveling from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Tokyo, Japan, on Monday, the latest leg of a five-day trip to Asia which he hopes to cap with an agreement on a trade war truce with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping.
But he added: “I wouldn’t do that. I think it’s too cute. Yeah, I would rule that out because it’s too cute. I think the people wouldn’t like that … It’s not – it wouldn’t be right.
No one may be elected to the US presidency a third time, according to the 22nd amendment of the US constitution.
Some have suggested that one way around this prohibition would be for Trump to stand as vice-president, while another candidate stood for president but then resigned, letting Trump as the No 2 step up and again assume the presidency.
Opponents have disputed whether this would be legal.
Referring to the possibility of a third term, however, Trump said: “I would love to do it. I have my best numbers ever.”
When pressed by a reporter whether he was not ruling out a third term, he said: “Am I not ruling it out? I mean you’ll have to tell me.”
He added: “All I can tell you is that we have a great group of people, which they [the Democrats] don’t.”
Referring to JD Vance and the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, Trump also said they were great people who could run for the office.
“I think if they ever formed a group, it’d be unstoppable,” he said. “I really do. I believe that.”
The remarks were Trump’s latest on the subject, which he has teased in public remarks and with “Trump 2028” hats he hands out at the White House.
In the interview at the weekend, the former US vice-president and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, who lost to Trump last November, said she was not done with politics and strongly suggested that she was considering another run for president and did not rule out running in 2028.
Meanwhile, Trump is making his longest journey abroad since taking office in January and is scheduled to attend the Apec and Asean trade summits. He announced a flurry of deals on trade and critical minerals with four south-east Asian countries during the first stop in Malaysia and is set to meet Xi in South Korea on Thursday.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for President Xi and I think we’re going to come away with a deal,” Trump said before landing in Tokyo.
He also said he would like to meet up again with the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-un.
Reuters contributed reporting
