President Donald Trump cannot be elected to a third term in 2028, no matter how many red “Trump 2028” hats are sold at his rallies. The 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1951, states it in one straightforward sentence: “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.”

Trump won the White House in 2016, lost in 2020, and won again in 2024. Still, the president wants to remain in the White House and continues talking about running again, raising expectations among his supporters. In March 2025, he told NBC News that he was “not joking” about a third term and that “there are methods” to achieve one. The Trump Organization continues to sell “Trump 2028” hats and shirts, and former adviser Steve Bannon told The Economist that Trump “is going to be president in ’28.” At other times, Trump says he is only joking or that he brings up the idea to bother his opponents. In October 2025, he told reporters, “It’s pretty clear I’m not allowed to run.”

Many families in our Latino community have immigrated from countries where leaders rewrote the rules and set aside the constitution to remain in power. For these immigrants, respect for the Constitution represents security, and presidential term limits offer the assurance that power will change hands. For most of American history, that promise was a tradition, not a law. Then came Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Voters elected Roosevelt in 1932 and 1936. He won a third term in 1940 and a fourth in 1944. He died in office in April 1945, just months into his fourth term. In response, Congress decided that no one person should hold so much power for such a long time. It proposed the amendment in 1947, and the states ratified it on February 27, 1951. The amendment also establishes limits for those who assume the presidency during another person’s term and later seek election to the office.

Some Trump allies have suggested possible workarounds, such as Trump running for vice president and the sitting president then resigning to hand him the office. However, most constitutional scholars believe that route is also closed. The 12th Amendment states that no person who is constitutionally ineligible to serve as president can be elected vice president.

The only way to allow a third term would be to amend the Constitution to change or repeal the 22nd Amendment. This would require approval by two-thirds of both houses of Congress, followed by ratification by three-fourths of the states, or 38 of the 50. Days after the start of Trump’s second term, Rep. Andy Ogles, a Republican from Tennessee, proposed an amendment for that purpose, but the proposal has not been brought to a vote.

Perhaps there is little interest in having Trump serve a third term. For now, the 22nd Amendment continues to stand as a constitutional barrier around the Oval Office, and no campaign slogan can change it. The next president will be chosen at the ballot box in November 2028.

In August, at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, a reporter once again asked Trump about the possibility of seeking another term. His answer appeared to settle the matter, at least for now.

“I’d love to run,” he replied, “but the law is pretty strong.”