Donald Trump Makes an Alarming 'Joke' About Staying in Power Forever: "Unless You Say..."

President-elect Donald Trump is set to take over the White House a second time after 2017. The former president, who lost the elections in 2020 to Democratic rival Joe Biden, is back as the 47th president of the US and unsurprisingly, has no intentions of giving up his power, according to his critics. Moreover, during a recent event, he even joked about it not following the two-term limit. 

While speaking before the House Republican Conference on Wednesday, November 13, the 78-year-old real estate mogul jokingly revealed his 'intentions' to run for a third term. "I suspect I won't be running again unless you say he's so good we got to figure something else out," said Trump, according to AP's Farnoush Amiri, as per The New Republic. 

This statement echoes Trump's words from his 2020 re-election bid. Back in June 2019, the ex-commander-in-chief shared a meme video to his personal X (formerly Twitter) account based on the October 22, 2018, cover of TIME Magazine. The animation clip featured Trump's campaign signs, beginning from 2024 until 2048, followed by more and more years as the video progresses, per PEOPLE. 

The years of Trump's reign kept increasing until a final note appeared that read "EEEEEEE," a reference to eternity. As the video zoomed in, it showed another note, "TRUMP 4EVA," suggesting he intended to stay in the Oval Office forever. Though the video dates back to 2019, some have voiced fears that the message could ring true sometime in the future as Trump is set to return as the 47th president. 

However, that would be a violation of the American constitution stipulated since 1951 after Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd president, remained in power for four years. Though no such thing is mentioned in the original constitution, it became an unofficial rule after George Washington refused to run for a second term. After that, the two-term limit was set in the 22nd Amendment of the United States' constitution.

"No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice," reads the 22nd Amendment. "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." 

But will he or could he run for a third term? Trump allies brushed the statement off saying he was only kidding. Tennessee Congressman Tim Burchett told The Hill, "That was a joke," reiterating, "It was clearly a joke." Burchett recalled telling Arizona Representative Andy Biggs that the joke that Trump made would be the 'headlines tomorrow': "Trump trying to thwart the Constitution." Meanwhile, another Trump ally, Eli Crane (R-Ariz.) echoed, "I mean, he jokes all the time," while noting that in politics "you can't even tell a joke without being excoriated."