TOKYO — President Trump said Monday that he won’t run as Vice President JD Vance’s running mate to circumvent the Constitution’s two-term limit on the presidency, but said he is still interested in running again — musing about a potential 2028 face-off against New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Trump, 79, made the remarks when a reporter asked about his former chief strategist Steve Bannon’s claim that a secret plan might negate the 22nd Amendment’s term limit.
“I would love to do it. I have my best numbers ever, it’s very terrible, I have my best numbers,” Trump said aboard Air Force One en route to Tokyo for meetings with Emperor Naruhito and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
Trump, whose approval rating is 45.1%, according to the RealClearPolitics average of recent polls, has repeatedly flirted with a possible final candidacy in what has been widely interpreted as a way to avoid an early lame-duck status and also to troll Democrats — even handing out “Trump 2028” campaign hats to White House guests.
Bannon claimed in an interview with the Economist that “he’s going to get a third term… at the appropriate time, we’ll lay out what the plan is. But there’s a plan.”
Trump definitively ruled out the most widely discussed option of running as Vance’s running mate and then having Vance resign to circumvent the 22nd Amendment’s rule that a person can only be “elected” president twice.
“I think the people wouldn’t like that. It’s too cute. It wouldn’t be right,” he told reporters on Air Force One.
Trump said that he could also see Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio forming the Republican ticket in the next election, saying the pair would be “unstoppable.”
But he continued to leave the door open for himself.
“All I can tell you is that we have a great group of people, which they don’t. They have [Texas Rep.] Jasmine Crockett, a low IQ person. They have AOC who is low IQ. You give her an IQ test, have her pass the exams that I decided to take when I was at Walter Reed, I took very hard,” he added.
“Let AOC go against Trump. Let Jasmine go against Trump.”
Trump told CNBC in August he would “probably not” seek a third term, but told NBC in March he was “not joking” about running again.
During the Air Force One gaggle, Trump also revealed that he had an MRI scan during his annual physical this month. He declined to say why, but said “it was perfect.”
Trump will be 82 at the end of his current term. He would be 86 at the end of a third term in 2033.
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