Donald Trump hints at potential third Presidential term as new hat goes on sale

Donald Trump's team have launched a new baseball cap, hinting at another potential run for office, after having said he is .

He may have only just started his second term and it appears as though the 78 year old is already looking to stand for a third time as president, even if the US constitution doesn’t permit it. But insisted in a telephone interview with US media: “There are methods which you can do it.” It follows months of Trump making quips about a , despite the clear constitutional prohibition on it. Now, have been treated to new merchandise in the form of a baseball cap emblazoned with 'TRUMP 2028'.

“Am I allowed to run again?” Trump joked during a House Republican retreat in Florida in January. Just a week after he won the election last autumn, Trump suggested in a meeting with House Republicans that he might want to stick around after his second term was over.

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Now on the official Trump store selling merchandise, a red cap has emerged with ‘Trump 2028’ written across the front - and it doesn’t come cheap at pricey $50 or £37.50. Following on from one of Trump’s key policies during this term about tariffs to promote domestic production a description for the cap states: “Make a statement with this Made in America Trump 2028 hat.”

It adds: “Fully embroidered with a snap closure in the back, this will become your new go-to hat.” While clearly the store is expecting the caps to be popular as there is also a note in bold: “Due to high demand, please allow 5-10 business days to process prior to shipping.”

It was in comments made on March 30 to NBC News that he said: “I’m not joking... a lot of people want me to do it,” about the standing again. "But, I basically tell them we have a long way to go, you know, it's very early in the administration."

Even some allies don’t believe he aims to stand again. “You guys keep asking the question,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters and Trump is just “having some fun with it,” he said, “probably messing with you.”

Trump’s musings often spark alarm among his critics even when they’re legally impossible, given that he unsuccessfully tried to overturn his 2020 election loss and has since pardoned supporters who violently attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. But Trump has also repeatedly said that this will be his last term. Trying for another also would flatly violate the Constitution.

“No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice,” begins the 22nd Amendment, adopted after President Franklin Roosevelt was elected four times in a row. It’s a fairly straightforward ban on serving more than two terms. Some Trump supporters argue the language is meant to apply only to two consecutive terms because Roosevelt’s terms were consecutive, but notably that’s not what the amendment says.

Others contend that because the ban is just on being “elected” more than twice, Trump could run as the next president’s vice president and, if the ticket won, could simply replace that person if he or she resigns, a possibility the president himself floated. To put it mildly, that would be quite a complex plan to pull off, in no small part because Trump would be 82 during the next election, a year older than former President was during last year’s campaign. Also, the Constitution says only people qualified to be president can be vice president, which would seem to bar Trump from pursuing the scheme.

At least one Republican in Congress has been bold enough to propose a constitutional amendment that would allow Trump to seek another term. It has no chance of going anywhere, given the high bar for amending the Constitution, and has yet to move in the new Congress’ first months.

Even assuming Trump would attempt another run, a combination of election officials and courts would virtually ensure that he stayed off the ballot. State officials have long kept would-be candidates off presidential ballots if they didn’t meet the basic constitutional criteria, such as being a natural-born US citizen or being at least 35 years old. They would do the same with someone clearly violating the limit on presidential terms.

A version of this unfolded in 2023, when a few states tried to keep Trump off the ballot because they found he violated the 14th Amendment’s ban on officials who engaged in insurrection. The US Supreme Court reversed those decisions because no one had ever used the insurrection clause on a presidential candidate before and there were a lot of legal questions about its implementation.

There would be no similar questions about the meaning of the 22nd Amendment, said Derek Muller, a professor at Notre Dame Law School.

“You would not have the factual disputes, so it would be much wider,” Prof Muller said of the number of states keeping Trump off their ballots. “I’m not persuaded the Supreme Court is going to roll over.”