Donald Trump shamelessly testing his luck for a third term, says there is ‘going to be a constitutional movement’

On January 6, at a House GOP retreat in Washington, D.C., Donald Trump floated the idea of running for a third term again. He laughed it off, but it’s almost like he’s slowly testing if he can get his way.

Addressing Republican members of the U.S. House at the newly renamed Trump-Kennedy Center, Trump was delivering his usual dialogue. Unfair treatment, people not appreciating how “unbelievable” his years have been, and so on. Then he veered. After singing his own praises, he began thinking out loud about whether he can become a president for the third time.

We know he cannot, he knows he cannot, and the room knew he cannot. Yet, Trump tried anyway. “I guess I’m not allowed to run,” he said, pretending to search his memory. “I’m not sure. Is there a little something out there that I’m not allowed to run?” And before someone could remind him he cannot, he continued,

“But let’s assume I was allowed to run. There’s going to be a constitutional movement.”

A constitutional movement? More like a constitutional collapse. But Trump dropped the line casually and laughed through it. Yet, it’s more serious than anything. This also wasn’t the first time Trump has flirted with the idea of a third term. On multiple occasions in the last year, he teased the idea of additional terms in speeches or to reporters.

Trump repeatedly talks about a possible third term for himself

Trump often frames his wish as a rhetorical question or crowd-play. After returning to office in 2025, he immediately began expressing interests in a third term. On Jan. 27, 2025, while speaking at House GOP conference in Florida, he said, “I think I’m not allowed to run again. I’m not sure. Am I allowed to run again?”

Then on Feb. 20, 2025, at a White House event to mark Black History Month, he asked the crowd, “Should I run again? You tell me.” (via CBS) And the list goes on. In March, on a phone interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker, Trump explicitly said “There are methods which you could do it.” However, he dismissed that saying, “it is far too early to think about it.”

More recently, while speaking to reporters on Oct. 29 aboard Air Force One, he expressed his disappointment that the Constitution does not allow more than two terms. “If you read it, it’s pretty clear. I’m not allowed to run. It’s too bad.” But it seems his demented brain forgot that limitation in less than three months.

Trump is now slowly trying to slip in the idea of his unconstitutional return in everybody’s mind. On Jan. 6, he wasn’t announcing intent, but auditioning reaction to the prospect. His line about a “constitutional movement” was followed immediately by self-praise about his four “unbelievable” years. And this is how people float trial balloons.

Trump didn’t declare his return, but asked the room to assume. He wondered aloud and read the room for reaction. His math is simple, if the room stiffens, he jokes. If it nods, he circles back later.