WHY DONALD TRUMP CANNOT RUN IN 2028

WHY DONALD TRUMP CANNOT RUN IN 2028

by Bill Kochman    03-31-2025

As some of you may recall, and as I mention in my article called "Trump Fiefdom and the Trilateral World", shortly after President Trump’s inauguration in January 2025, Republican US Representative Andy Ogles of Tennessee introduced a resolution to change the 22nd Amendment of the US Constitution so that Donald Trump would be allowed to run for and serve a third term as President of the United States, if he were to win the 2028 presidential election. The current prohibition for doing so is outlined in the following specific words which are found in Section 1 of the 22nd Amendment:

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"No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once."

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However, the current reality of the situation is that the Democrats have enough votes in both chambers of Congress to stop such an endeavor in its tracks.

One idea which has been put forth is that Donald Trump could run for the Vice Presidency in 2028. Then, in a prearranged agreement, the 2029 Republican President would resign -- assuming he even wins the 2028 presidential election -- and Donald Trump would automatically slip into the top spot in the Oval Office.

However, there is a problem with this. Even if the Republicans were somehow able to get the 22nd Amendment changed, there is still another major constitutional obstacle. That is the fact that the 12th amendment makes it impossible for Trump to run for Vice President in 2028 first, and then slip into the number one spot when the theoretical 2029 Republican President resigns. That is because the very end of the 12th Amendment states as follows:

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"But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States."

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So unless the 22nd Amendment is changed first -- highly unlikely -- President Trump cannot run for neither President nor Vice President in 2028. It is as simple as that.