Donald Trump Says He Has the Right to Seek a Third Term: “They Cheated Us on the Second One”

U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday, October 22, that he has the right to seek a third term, arguing that he was cheated in the 2020 election, which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

He made the remarks during a campaign rally at Sioux Gateway Airport in Sioux City, Iowa, ahead of the November congressional elections. There, he again claimed that his 2020 victory had been stolen, an allegation that has never been substantiated, and presented it as justification for another run despite the constitutional two-term limit.

“They cheated us on the second one, because I won it three times, so I think I have the right to run again,” the president said, according to Newsweek.

In the same speech, however, Trump acknowledged the legal obstacle. “I think the law says that I’m not allowed to run again,” he said. “Unfortunately, it’s quite concise. There’s not a lot of wiggle room.”

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What the 22nd Amendment says about a third term

The 22nd Amendment to the Constitution states that “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.” Trump won the 2016 and 2024 elections, so another presidential bid would directly conflict with that limit.

Changing that limit would require a constitutional amendment. Under Article V, an amendment must be proposed by two-thirds of both chambers of Congress, or by a convention called by two-thirds of the states, and then ratified by three-quarters of the states, or 38 of 50.

Nevertheless, the president has repeatedly floated the idea of a third term. In July, at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, he wore a “Trump 2028” cap and said, “I won three times. Now, I’m going to do it again,” as Cubanos por el Mundo reported at the time (in Spanish). In August, by contrast, he said he would “love to run, but the law is very strong.”

The certified 2020 results gave Biden the victory. Trump has never acknowledged that defeat.

Since then, he has continued to insist that the vote was manipulated, even though courts rejected his legal challenges, which failed to establish evidence sufficient to change the outcome. More than 60 lawsuits filed by Trump and his allies after the 2020 vote were dismissed or withdrawn, and his own attorney general at the time, William Barr, said in December 2020 that the Justice Department had not found fraud on a scale that could have changed the outcome.

Trump renewed his election fraud allegations

Trump had already revived those allegations in a prime-time address on July 16, presenting declassified documents that he said showed vulnerabilities in the voting system and foreign interference, as Cubanos por el Mundo reported (in Spanish).

However, a review of those documents by The Associated Press found no evidence that China or any other foreign entity manipulated the 2020 vote. Many pages were also heavily redacted, and some of the material described vulnerabilities documented years earlier.

The president visits several states ahead of November’s elections

The Sioux City rally was meant to boost Republican candidates in Iowa, including Rep. Ashley Hinson, who faces Democrat Josh Turek in the race for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat. Trump is scheduled to return to Iowa for another rally on November 1, according to Newsweek.

Following recent stops in North Carolina and Iowa, Trump’s schedule includes rallies in Fort Myers, Florida; Perry, Georgia; Port Huron, Michigan; Waco and Lubbock, Texas; and Chillicothe, Ohio, according to States Newsroom.

The rallies are aimed at boosting Republican candidates ahead of the midterm elections.

His remarks about a third term have again brought the Constitution’s presidential term limits into focus, less than two weeks before the November 3 elections.

On September 10, Cubanos por el Mundo reported (in Spanish) Trump’s comments ahead of the midterms, in which he claimed fuel prices would fall immediately after the elections.