--- title: Trump Says He 'Probably' Won't Run For President Again description: The President has fueled speculation in the past that he would violate the Constitution and attempt to run for a third term. canonical: https://time.com/7307562/trump-third-term-constitution/ author: Rebecca Schneid article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-08-05T16:06:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-11T01:38:03.751Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Says He 'Probably' Won't Run For President Again og:description: The President has previously fueled speculation that he would violate the Constitution and run for a third term. og:url: https://time.com/7307562/trump-third-term-constitution/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt59e2ced5e614effa/6998c8ccc8dcb459acb505b7/GettyImages-2227934246.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 6000 og:image:height: 3375 og:image:alt: President Trump Signs Executive Order In White House's Roosevelt Room og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Says He 'Probably' Won't Run For President Again twitter:description: The President has previously fueled speculation that he would violate the Constitution and run for a third term. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt59e2ced5e614effa/6998c8ccc8dcb459acb505b7/GettyImages-2227934246.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump Says He 'Probably' Won't Run For President Again > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Rebecca Schneid](https://time.com/author/rebecca-schneid/)  ## Rebecca Schneid Reporter Aug 5, 2025 4:06 PM UTC  President Donald Trump speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on July 31, 2025, in Washington, D.C. President Donald Trump speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on July 31, 2025, in Washington, D.C. Anna Moneymaker—Getty Images  by [Rebecca Schneid](https://time.com/author/rebecca-schneid/)  ## Rebecca Schneid Reporter Aug 5, 2025 4:06 PM UTC President Donald Trump said he would “probably” not [run for president](https://time.com/7282460/will-trump-seek-a-third-term-as-president-comments-plan-successor-talk/) again after his second term in an[ interview with CNBC](https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/05/cnbc-transcript-president-of-the-united-states-donald-trump-speaks-with-cnbcs-squawk-box-today-.html) on Tuesday. The remark came in response to a question from the hosts of “Squawk Box” about whether he would run for a third term, which the Constitution forbids, to which Trump replied: “No. Probably not. I'd like to run. I have the best poll numbers I've ever had. You know why? Because people love the tariffs.” Trump was immediately fact-checked by host Joe Kernen, who pushed back that Trump has the best poll numbers among _Republicans_, not the general public. Trump responded that he had “a lot of fake polls.” In late July, [TIME reported that Trump’s poll numbers](https://time.com/7305351/trump-polling-new-low/) had hit new lows, with a Gallup poll showing his approval ratings at 37% among U.S. adults. His support has dropped significantly among Independents, who cited the budget, Ukraine and foreign trade. His standing with Republicans had remained in the high 80s, though, steady throughout his second term. Trump’s comments come after he has [teased running for a third term ](https://time.com/7222820/trump-third-term-president-explainer-pathways-constitution-courts-legal-experts/)throughout the first six months of his second. In some interviews, he has refused to rule out the possibility of running again, despite the [22nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution](https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/amdt22-1/ALDE%5F00001008/#:~:text=No%20person%20shall%20be%20elected,the%20President%20more%20than%20once.) only allowing presidents to serve two terms in office. “A lot of people want me to do it,” Trump said in a March interview with [NBC News](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-third-term-white-house-methods-rcna198752). He added that “there are methods which you could do it.” Many of Trump’s supporters have been encouraged by the idea and have taken to chanting “four more years” at his events. In April, the Trump Organization began selling [“Trump 2028” caps](https://www.trumpstore.com/product/trump-2028-hat/) on its merchandising website, as well as [t-shirts](https://www.trumpstore.com/product/trump-2028-shirt/) that say “Trump 2028 (Rewrite the Rules),” In other interviews, however, Trump has denied he would seek a third term. In an [April 22 interview with TIME](https://time.com/7282460/will-trump-seek-a-third-term-as-president-comments-plan-successor-talk/), Trump said: “I'd rather not discuss that now, but as you know, there are some loopholes that have been discussed that are well known. But I don't believe in loopholes.” In [a May NBC interview](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/read-full-transcript-president-donald-trump-interviewed-meet-press-mod-rcna203514), he added that he would rather look to other leaders in the party, including his Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The phone interview with CNBC covered Trump’s tariffs, import taxes, Trump’s decision to replace [Fed Chair Jerome Powell](https://time.com/7305346/federal-reserve-building-donald-trump/), and the recent jobs report that led to Trump [firing the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.](https://time.com/7307040/trump-jobs-fires-labor-report-commissioner/) **Threats of 250% pharma tariffs** Trump said that in addition to his plans to roll out tariffs on semiconductors and chips—the announcement of which he said will come “within the next week or so”—he also wants to eventually roll out a massive tariff on pharmaceuticals to boost domestic production. “On pharmaceuticals, we'll be putting an initially small tariff on pharmaceuticals, but in one year, one and a half years, maximum, it's going to go to 150% and then it's going to go to 250% because we want pharmaceuticals made in our country,” Trump said, threatening the highest rate thus far on the product. This news comes after a [May Executive Order](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/05/delivering-most-favored-nation-prescription-drug-pricing-to-american-patients/) from Trump that directed the U.S. Department of Health and Services, led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies to reduce drug prices, which he doubled down on in late July after [he sent letters to 17 ](https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/07/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-announces-actions-to-get-americans-the-best-prices-in-the-world-for-prescription-drugs/)drugmakers calling on them to commit to steps to lower U.S. drug prices by Sept. 29. Leaders in the pharmaceutical industry have warned, though, that these large levies [will drive up drug prices](https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/02/business/drug-prices-trump-us-manufacturing). **NATO leaders 'do whatever I want'** Trump told CNBC hosts that the leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) “do whatever I want.” Tensions have risen as NATO attempts to work towards a ceasefire in Russia and Ukraine, telling [NBC in July](https://time.com/7301675/ukraine-us-weapons-nato-military-defense-spending-trump-putin-russia/) that the U.S. would work through the organization to help give weapons to Ukraine. **Read More:** [_The Trump Era of Flattery Diplomacy is Here_](https://time.com/7303397/trump-era-flattery-diplomacy/) In the same interview, Trump threatened the European Union with 35% tariffs if it failed to live up to a pledge to invest some $600 billion in the U.S., and also threatened India with higher tariffs, citing their buying of Russian oil. India, he says, has “not been a good trading partner.” Trump had criticized India’s buying of Russian oil [on Truth Social on Monday](https://time.com/7307203/india-russia-crude-oil-trump-miller-tariffs-war-ukraine-economy/), claiming he would “substantially” raise tariffs as a result. “They're fueling the war machine. And if they’re going to do that, then I’m not going to be happy,” Trump said of India in the CNBC interview Tuesday. **Jobs report was 'rigged'** Last week, Trump directed his Administration to fire Erika McEntarfer, head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, following a[ report](https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf) that showed that the U.S. added fewer jobs in July than many economists had expected, which indicated to economists that job growth stalled in the aftermath of several of Trump’s controversial [economic policies](https://time.com/tag/economy/), including his volatile tariff policies. “It's a highly political situation. It's totally rigged. Smart people know it. People with common sense know it,” Trump told CNBC, though host Kernan pushed back, telling Trump that this was a “big leap” to call the report “rigged.” “Critics are going to say, 'Hey, he's picking a guy or a gal that's going to give him the numbers that he wants.' So it undermines confidence in the system to some extent,” Kernan told the President. Still, Trump defended his move. “She's a very nice woman, but when they say that nobody was involved, that it wasn't political, give me a break.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7307562/trump-third-term-constitution/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7307562/trump-third-term-constitution/"},"headline":"Trump Says He 'Probably' Won't Run For President Again","datePublished":"2025-08-05T16:06:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-11T01:38:03.751Z","description":"The President has fueled speculation in the past that he would violate the Constitution and attempt to run for a third term.","url":"https://time.com/7307562/trump-third-term-constitution/","keywords":["Donald Trump","News","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt59e2ced5e614effa/6998c8ccc8dcb459acb505b7/GettyImages-2227934246.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rebecca Schneid","jobTitle":"Reporter","url":"https://time.com/author/rebecca-schneid/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt59e2ced5e614effa/6998c8ccc8dcb459acb505b7/GettyImages-2227934246.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Trump Signs Executive Order In White House's Roosevelt Room","caption":"President Trump Signs Executive Order In White House's Roosevelt Room","creditText":"Anna Moneymaker—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7307562/trump-third-term-constitution/","name":"Trump Says He 'Probably' Won't Run For President Again"}}]}] ```