The merch is out and available for a price on the Trump Organization website: $50 for a “Trump 2028” hat; $36 for a shirt that reads “Trump 2028 (Re-write the Rules).”
The rules aren’t so easily undone. Donald Trump can’t be elected again in 2028 under the constitutional amendment limiting presidents to two terms. Any number of Trump’s Republican allies will tell you that a third term is inconceivable given the enormous hurdles required to pass a new amendment.
“He’s not going to run for another term,” former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich . But, he added, Trump has reason to talk about it: “Don’t underestimate the degree to which he believes any Trump-centered noise is good, because it starves his opponents.”
Yet Trump continues to flirt with the prospect of serving until 2033, when he would be 86 years old. Whether he’ll follow through or not, his assertion that a third term is no joke is something that would-be contenders ignore at their own peril.
Teasing a third term freezes the 2028 GOP presidential field until aspiring candidates have a clearer understanding of whether and how far Trump intends to push the limits of the Constitution.
Anyone who front-runs Trump and mounts a campaign before he declares his intentions might offend the MAGA movement.
Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Josh Hawley of Missouri, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — none are likely to start building a campaign unless and until Trump concedes this term is his last.
Doing so would invite “total and complete rejection,” said Steve Bannon, a senior White House official in Trump’s first term who is exploring ways for Trump to serve a third term. “Trump is MAGA; MAGA is Trump.”
Asa Hutchinson, a former Arkansas governor who ran against Trump for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, said Trump’s third-term musings “particularly impact JD Vance and Ron DeSantis and anyone else who wants the favor of Donald Trump. They know they have to stay out of the mix until Donald Trump gives the blessing to go after it and says that he would not be seeking a third term.”
That’s not likely to happen any time soon. The party expects Trump to draw out an announcement about his future as long as he can, according to a Republican who is close to possible 2028 candidates. The more Trump delays, the more he commands attention and averts the perception that he’s a lame duck.
The White House has considerable leverage at this point. No serious GOP presidential hopeful would want Trump’s ire.
Consider the case of DeSantis. Trump endorsed him in the 2018 Florida gubernatorial primary and viewed his subsequent 2024 presidential primary challenge as a betrayal.
On top of that, Trump’s political base began to distrust DeSantis after he jumped in the race against Trump, a sentiment that hasn’t subsided. Before the GOP Iowa caucuses last year, Laura Loomer, one of Trump’s most vocal supporters, told DeSantis in the lobby of a hotel: “You killed your political career, and I hope you’re happy.”
The best way for putative candidates to stay on the right side of Trump is by going along with the notion that he might indeed run, a Trump political adviser said.
“I think anyone looking to 2028 is probably the first person to purchase one,” said the adviser, referring to the “Trump 2028” hat, who was granted anonymity to share internal thinking.
Vance may be better positioned than most rivals as Trump floats the idea of a third term. He has a built-in platform as a sitting vice president, complete with the perks that the job brings.
At his disposal is a taxpayer-funded staff and an airplane that he can use to build his foreign policy bona fides. It helps that his boss is a bit of a homebody and has eschewed extensive travel. This month, Vance met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome to discuss tariffs. He had an audience with Pope Francis shortly before the pontiff’s death.
With Trump controlling the Republican National Committee, Vance last month became the group’s finance chairman, allowing him to befriend well-heeled donors who can be helpful to a future campaign.