President Donald Trump (Left) and (Right) Rep. Andy Ogles. Credit: Nwsj

Andy Ogles, the Republican representative from Tennessee, recently introduced a resolution to amend the Constitution in order to allow President Donald Trump to seek a third term—an effort that’s all but certain to be dead on arrival, even though Trump could try to test term limits through legal loopholes.

Ogles introduced a resolution that would amend the Constitution to say no one can be “elected to the office of the President more than three times, nor be elected to any additional term after being elected to two consecutive terms,” claiming the move would “[ensure] that we can sustain the bold leadership our nation so desperately needs” by keeping Trump in power.

The resolution follows repeated comments by Trump suggesting he could want to stay in power for a third term, telling GOP lawmakers after his election, “I suspect I won’t be running again unless you say, ‘He’s so good we’ve got to figure something else out’” and telling members of the National Rifle Association in May 2024, “Are we three-term or two-term if we win?”

Trump was inaugurated for his second spell in the White House a week ago, becoming just the second president in US history to serve two non-consecutive terms.

US presidents are limited to two terms in office by the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, which was ratified in 1951, partly as a response to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s unprecedented four terms as president from 1933-1945.

And during his first term in office, Mr. Trump suggested to his supporters at a September 2020 rally in Nevada that term limits were not set in stone.

“We’re going to win four more years in the White House,” he said. “And then after that, we’ll negotiate, right? Because we’re probably — based on the way we were treated — we are probably entitled to another four after that.”

Yet when Mr. Trump was asked by a New York Times reporter on Election Day whether the 2024 campaign was his last, he said, “I would think so.”

Amending the Constitution to get around the two-term limit would be a very tall order.

Two-thirds majorities in both the House and Senate are required just to propose an amendment, far more than the slender majorities Republicans hold in both chambers now, or two-thirds of the states have to call for a constitutional convention.

Ratifying an amendment is even more onerous: Three-fourths of all state legislatures — or of those state-level constitutional conventions — must approve it.

Just Three days after Mr. Trump was sworn in to a second term, Andy Ogles proposed a resolution to amend the Constitution to provide Mr. Trump with a pathway to a third term. Ogles has also praised Trump’s slew of executive orders signed on the first day of his second coming, including the handling of the southern border, restricting gender identities to male and female, energy production, and withdrawing from the World Health Organisation.

The part of the resolution applying to Mr. Trump is worded this way: “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than three times, nor be elected to any additional term after being elected to two consecutive terms.”

Mr. Ogles argued that Mr. Trump needed more time to accomplish his agenda and reverse the policies of the Biden administration.

“He has proven himself to be the only figure in modern history capable of reversing our nation’s decay and restoring America to greatness, and he must be given the time necessary to accomplish that goal,” Mr. Ogles said in a statement.

The Democrats aren’t taking this lightly as well. Representative Dan Goldman, a Democrat of New York in the House of Representatives, introduced a resolution to reaffirm that the 22nd Amendment applies to presidents who serve nonconsecutive terms soon after Donald Trump remarked in November 2024 that House Republicans could help pave his way to a third term. The measure has little chance of advancing to the House floor for a vote with the chamber under Republican control.

At the annual gala of the New York Young Republican Club in December, Stephen K. Bannon, a confidant of Mr. Trump, floated the idea of a three-term presidency. He said that a loophole in the Constitution could allow Mr. Trump to run again in 2028, citing his discussions with Mike Davis, a Republican lawyer and supporter of Mr. Trump.

“Since it doesn’t actually say consecutive,” Mr. Bannon said, “I don’t know, maybe we do it again in ’28? Are you guys down for that? Trump ’28?”

Mr. Bannon’s remarks drew cheers from the crowd.

Another seemingly far-fetched idea has been floated by Trump supporters as a potential loophole. It would involve Vice President JD Vance winning the presidency in 2028 with Mr. Trump as his running mate, only to resign from office so that the two-term president gets a third term.

While the 22nd Amendment makes it very clear that presidents cannot be elected to a third term, it does not explicitly say they can’t serve a third term, making way for some legal loopholes that Trump could try to exploit. In a 1999 article for the University of Minnesota Law School, legal scholars Bruce G. Peabody and Scott E. Gant noted the Constitution would not explicitly prohibit a scenario where a two-term president could get back in the White House without being elected—namely by being elected to a position that’s still in the line of succession, like vice president, and then assuming power if the president resigns or is unable to serve.

That suggests it could be possible for Vice President J.D. Vance or another Trump ally to run for president in 2028 with Trump as their running mate, and then upon taking office, resign the position so Trump can serve as president instead. That scenario has never been tested in practice and would be sure to face legal challenges, as critics could argue it conflicts with the 12th Amendment, which states, “No person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.” But Peabody and Gant noted that it could technically be allowed, writing that although “political and popular expectations would discourage” presidents from serving a third term, “whatever reluctance there is to sanctioning a reassumption of the presidency may someday be tested and ultimately overcome.”

Pushing for a third term would put Trump in line with other controversial world leaders who have managed to defy term limits. Russian President Vladimir Putin stayed in power in 2008 after his final term ended by instead being elected to serve as Prime Minister—with his close ally Dmitry Medvedev serving as president—during which time the law changed to allow lengthier presidential terms. Putin was reinstated as president in 2012 and has stayed in power since, signing laws in 2021 that will keep him eligible to serve through at least 2036. Chinese President Xi Jinping was elected to a third term in 2023 after his government amended China’s Constitution to get rid of existing term limits, paving the way for the Chinese leader to potentially serve for life.