President Trump namedropped two possible successors — Vice President JD Vance or Secretary of State Marco Rubio — but was coy about who he would prefer in a wide-ranging interview that aired on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday.
The commander in chief also revealed in a wide-ranging interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that he’s “not looking” to pursue a third term in office after previously toying with the idea.
“It’s far too early to say that. But you know, I do have a vice president … and JD’s doing a fantastic job,” Trump said.
“I don’t want to get involved in that. I think he’s a fantastic, brilliant guy. Marco is great. There’s a lot of them that are great,” he added. “We have a lot of good people in this party.”
Last week, Trump announced that he was tapping Rubio as his interim national security adviser in addition to his duties as secretary of state, archivist and head of the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
Back in the 2016 cycle, Trump and Rubio had been bitter rivals, with the president dubbing his future secretary of state “Little Marco,” among other insults. But the two have since become close allies
Allies of Trump, including Steve Bannon, have been publicly advocating for the 47th president to pursue a third term despite the 22nd Amendment prohibiting a president from running for more than two terms.
Trump has toyed with the idea in the past but indicated that he’s not serious about pursuing a third term, which would require a repeal of the 22nd Amendment or him to exploit a succession loophole.
“I will say this. So many people want me to do it. I have never had requests so strong as that. But it’s something that, to the best of my knowledge, you’re not allowed to do,” Trump admitted.
“I’ll be an eight-year president. I’ll be a two-term president. I always thought that was very important,” he added. “This is not something I’m looking to do. I’m looking to have four great years and turn it over to somebody, ideally a great Republican.”
Late last month, the president’s namesake company began selling red “Trump 2028” hats. Those hats didn’t specify which Trump family member should vie in the next presidential election cycle.
Trump has frequently trolled his critics by trafficking in suggestions that he’d pursue a third term in office. The only president to go beyond two terms was Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Some legal scholars believe that while presidents are restricted from running for more than two terms, they are not necessarily prohibited from pursuing a third White House via the line of presidential succession.
The 12th Amendment says that “no person constitutionally ineligible” for the presidency can serve as vice president. The theory goes that Trump could land a role within the presidential line of succession, such as speaker of the House, and ascend back to the Oval Office if everyone else steps down.
During the wide-ranging interview, Trump also assessed how he feels the economy is performing under his watch.
Last week, the Commerce Department revealed that US gross domestic product shrank at a 0.3% annualized pace in the first quarter, due in part to a surge in imports as companies braced for tariffs.
That’s the first economic contraction since 2022. Typically, two negative quarters are thought to indicate a recession, but that is ultimately determined by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).
Last week, the Labor Department revealed that US employers added a robust 177,000 jobs to the economy, which generally beat expectations.
“I think the good parts are the Trump economy and the bad parts are the Biden economy because he’s done a terrible job,” the president quipped. “He did a terrible job on everything, from his autopen – which I’m sure he knew nothing about, some of the things he was supposedly signing.”
Some financial luminaries, including JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon, have predicted that a recession is likely due to Trump’s tariff policies, which have spooked markets and scrambled supply chains.
Trump acknowledged that “anything can happen” but predicted that “we’re going to have the greatest economy in the history of our country.”
Despite the consternation over the tariffs, Trump declined to rule out the possibility of making the suite of duties on foreign imports permanent.
“No, I wouldn’t do that because if somebody thought they were going to come off the table, why would they build in the United States?” Trump explained.
Last month, the president levied a 10% baseline tariff rate on virtually all goods flowing into the US. Trump has also implemented a 25% automotive tariff, a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum, and a 25% tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico that don’t comply with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
Imports coming in from China are subject to a 145% rate, with few exceptions.
Additionally, the president has given countries until July 8 to negotiate new trade arrangements with the US or face even more tariffs.
NBC anchor Kristen Welker also pressed Trump on his aspirations of acquiring Greenland and making Canada the 51st state.
“I think we’re not going to ever get to that point,” Trump said about using military force to acquire Greenland. “It could happen. Something could happen with Greenland. I’ll be honest, we need that for national and international security.”
“It’s highly unlikely. I don’t see it with Canada. I just don’t see it,” he added about using military force to take Canada.
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