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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Harry Cockburn

Steve Bannon says ‘there is a plan’ for Trump to be president in 2028: ‘We had longer odds in 2016 and 2024’

Steve Bannon claims “there is a plan” for Donald Trump to secure a third term as president of the United States after the next election, scheduled for 2028.

Despite the U.S. Constitution’s 22nd Amendment, which bars candidates who have already won two terms from taking office for a third time, Bannon said the Trump administration will find a means to reinstall the Republican leader.

“He’s going to get a third term. Trump is going to be president in ‘28 and people ought to just get accommodated with that,” Bannon told The Economist in a video interview.

Asked if the 22nd Amendment could prove to be a hard barrier to remaining in the White House, Bannon said: “There’s many different alternatives. At the appropriate time, we’ll lay out what the plan is, but there is a plan, and Trump will be the president in ‘28.”

Only one U.S. president has ever served more than two terms – Franklin D. Roosevelt – who was elected for a third term in 1940 and a historic fourth term in 1944, during which he died while in office.

Amid concerns about the limits on presidential terms, which had long-plagued U.S. politics, the 22nd amendment took effect in February 1951.

Despite the requirement to get a constitutional amendment through Congress to scrap the current presidential term limits being a tall order, Bannon suggested it could be easier for Trump to win in 2028 than it was in 2024 and 2016.

“We had longer odds in '16 and longer odds in '24 than we've got in '28,” he said. “We have to finish what we started.”

Bannon’s remarks come just four days after Trump baited Democrats worried about the prospect of him abolishing term limits with a new video in which he threatens to run for office “4EVA.”

Donald Trump has hinted at a third term (AFP/Getty)

In the clip posted to Truth Social on Sunday, a mock Time magazine cover is shown with the headline, “How Trumpism Outlasts Trump,” which is then zoomed in on to reveal a series of yard signs carrying the future campaign slogans “Trump 2028,” “Trump 2032,” “Trump 2036” and so on, all set to Edvard Grieg’s ominous “In the Hall of the Mountain King”.

Trump has repeatedly tested the water about the prospect of serving a historic third term.

During a recent meeting with congressional Democratic leaders Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer in the Oval Office, “Trump 2028” caps were displayed on the Resolute Desk as a provocation.

His desire to remain in the top job comes amid considerable concern about the health of democracy in the U.S. and whether power is becoming increasingly focused in the hands of the executive branch of politics.

Last weekend nearly seven million demonstrators in towns and cities across the country showed up for No Kings protests to rally against Trump’s “authoritarianism”, according to organizers.

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