DONALD Trump has confirmed he will leave the White House at the end of his second term and not run for a historic third stint.
The Republican, 78, has joked in recent weeks about his desire to serve a third, or even fourth term as US president – even selling “Trump 2028” hats.
He finally set the record straight on his political future today as he declared he will be an “eight-year president” only.
Addressing whether he would run for a third term, Trump told NBC‘s Meet the Press with Kristen Welker: “I’ll be an eight-year president.I’ll be a two-term president.
“I always thought that was very important.”
Debate over Trump serving a third term has raged on for weeks since he made comments about staying in the White House beyond 2028.
Despite these comments, a president serving more than two terms is banned under the 22nd Amendment in the US Constitution.
This means it can’t ever happen, unless the constitution was changed.
The two-term maximum ruling was brought in in 1951 after President Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected four times in a row.
Some believe if any leader was to impose such a radical change then it may be Trump.
He has previously said he was “not joking” about wanting to serve a third term to reporters.
He even told NBC he believes there are “methods which you could do it” when asked about staying on as Washington‘s leader.
And just last week, Trump’s real estate company, the Trump Organization, dropped a new version of Trump’s classic “Make America Great Again” hat.
This time, the red hat simply says, “Trump 2028,” which is the next presidential election year.
Trump has admitted if he tried to run for a third term then it would be “a big shattering”.
But he did also note at the end of April that it would be a “very hard to do”.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has also called out reporters for constantly asking about the third term.
In the NBC interview – which is scheduled to fully air on Sunday – Trump went on to say the next three-and-a-half years he has left is enough time to “do something spectacular”.
He also listed several of his Republicans pals who could take his place, including Vice-President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The president has already served four years as America’s leader after being voted in for the first time back in 2016 after he beat Hillary Clinton to the Oval Office.
But he lasted just a single term before long-standing foe Joe Biden ousted him from the presidency in 2020.
Trump always remained confident he would return to the White House one day as he ran again in 2024.
He was set to do battle with Biden again but the Democrat dropped out of the race at the last moment and was replaced by VP Kamala Harris.
Trump went on to defeat Harris with ease as he took a clean sweep of swing states and strutted back into office this January.
When Trump officially leaves office for the second time he will be the oldest ever US president at the age of 82.
And with his 79th birthday now on the horizon, plans have already revealed what the leader has planned to celebrate.
A massive military parade is in the works – with some 7,000 troops marching and 50 helicopters flying over Washington DC.
The president reportedly plans to splash a whopping $100 million on the full-blown military spectacle.
A source in Washington DC has revealed Trump is planning the parade to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the US Army on June 14 – which also happens to be his birthday.
What is the 22nd Amendment?
THE 22nd Amendment makes up part of the United States Constitution.
The ruling places a limit on the number of terms a political candidate can serve as the president.
It was first made part of the Constitution on February, 27, 1951 and stated no individual can be elected to the office of President more than twice.
This amendment was introduced following Franklin D. Roosevelt’s unprecedented four terms as president.
His reign is said to have been widely flagged by raising concerns about the concentration of power and increased the desire to formalise term limits.
Roosevelt broke the tradition set by George Washington who voluntarily stepped down after two terms.
Both Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama have expressed some regret over only serving eight years.
