Donald Trump hints at exploring paths to a third term as United States president despite constitutional limits.

US President Donald Trump has said he is “not joking” about seeking a third term in office, which is barred by the United States Constitution.

Speaking in a phone interview with NBC News on Sunday, Trump directly addressed speculation over a potential third term, saying, “No, I’m not joking. I’m not joking,” but added, “It is far too early to think about it.”

“There are methods which you could do it, as you know,” he said, without elaborating on potential legal or political avenues.

The US Constitution’s 22nd Amendment limits presidents to two four-year terms, whether consecutive or not.

The 22nd Amendment says that “no person shall be elected to the office of the president more than twice”.

Trump was asked in the NBC interview about a scenario where his running mate, Vice President JD Vance, could assume office before stepping aside to allow him to take over. Trump acknowledged the possibility, stating, “That’s one” approach.

“But there are others, too,” he added, without elaborating further.

‘We’re working on it’

Overturning the 22nd Amendment would require a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress and ratification by three-quarters of the 50 US states.

Trump, who began his second, non-consecutive term in January, has repeatedly alluded to extending his time in office.

Some of his allies have also floated the idea of keeping him in power beyond 2028, while Trump himself has occasionally teased about the possibility, often in ways that taunt his political opponents.

If he were to pursue another term in the 2028 election, Trump, who was the oldest president to be inaugurated in the US in January 2025, would then be 82 years old.

The precedent of a two-term limit dates back to 1796, when George Washington voluntarily stepped down after two terms.

This tradition remained largely unchallenged for more than 140 years until Franklin D Roosevelt won a third term in 1940 amid the Great Depression and World War II. Roosevelt died months into his fourth term in 1945, prompting Congress to formalise term limits with the 22nd Amendment in 1951.

Longtime Trump adviser Steve Bannon suggested in a March 19 interview with NewsNation that Trump may seek re-election in 2028.

“We’re working on it,” Bannon said, adding that his team was exploring ways to reinterpret the definition of term limits to facilitate a third term.

A major, 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck in the South Pacific Ocean on Monday, according to the United States Geological Survey. The quake prompted a brief “Tsunami Threat” for Tonga.

Preliminary reports from the U.S. Tsunami Warning System said tsunami waves were possible for coastlines within about 190 miles of the earthquake’s epicenter, including those on Tonga. The system issued an all-clear notice about an hour later, after a tsunami would have struck had one materialized.

Tsunamis are a series of long waves caused by a large and sudden displacement of water in the ocean, usually from a large earthquake on or below the ocean floor. Tsunamis radiate in all directions from the epicenter and can cause dangerous coastal flooding and powerful currents that can last for hours or days.

The temblor happened at 1:18 a.m. Tonga time about 49 miles southeast of Pangai, Tonga, data from the U.S.G.S shows.

U.S.G.S. data earlier reported that the magnitude was 7.1.

As seismologists review available data, they may revise the earthquake’s reported magnitude. Additional information collected about the earthquake may also prompt U.S.G.S. scientists to update the shake-severity map.

Aftershocks in the region

An aftershock is usually a smaller earthquake that follows a larger one in the same general area. Aftershocks are typically minor adjustments along the portion of a fault that slipped at the time of the initial earthquake.

Aftershocks can occur days, weeks or even years after the first earthquake. These events can be of equal or larger magnitude to the initial earthquake, and they can continue to affect already damaged locations.

Pope Francis publicly acknowledged that this Lenten season is a time of healing for his soul and body.

On Sunday, the Vatican released the text of Francis’ prepared Sunday Angelus prayer. It is the seventh straight Sunday that his illness has prevented him from delivering the blessing from a window over St. Peter’s Square as usual. 

“Dearest friends, let us live this Lent as a time of healing, all the more as it is the Jubilee,” Francis said. “I too am experiencing it this way, in my soul and in my body.”

“That is why I give heartfelt thanks to all those who, in the image of the Saviour, are instruments of healing for their neighbour with their word and their knowledge, with kindness and with prayer,” he continued. “Frailty and illness are experiences we all have in common; all the more, however, we are brothers in the salvation Christ has given us.”

POPE FRANCIS’ DOCTORS CONSIDERED ENDING TREATMENT, SAID ‘THERE WAS A REAL RISK HE MIGHT NOT MAKE IT’: REPORT

His remarks then turned to world conflicts, with a focus on South Sudan, where he said “the war continues to claim innocent victims.”

“I urge the parties concerned in the conflict to put the safeguarding of the lives of their civilian brothers and sisters first; and I hope that new negotiations will begin as soon as possible, capable of securing a lasting solution to the crisis,” he said. “May the international community increase its efforts to address the appalling humanitarian catastrophe.”

POPE FRANCIS MAKES FIRST PUBLIC APPEARANCE IN FIVE WEEKS 

Faithful and pilgrims gather in St. Peter’s Square at The Vatican to follow on giant screens a live broadcast from Rome’s Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic, on Sunday, March 23, 2025, where Pope Francis made his first public appearance since he was hospitalized on Feb. 14 with bilateral pneumonia.  (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

The 88-year-old pontiff is still recovering from a respiratory infection, according to the Holy See Press Office. He continues to be weaned off oxygen support during the day and night, and his blood levels are normal. However, his medical team has ordered a strict convalescence period of at least two months following his hospital release last week. 

Francis has shown “a truly surprising improvement,” the doctor who coordinated the pontiff’s five-week hospitalization said Saturday.

Surgeon Sergio Alfieri speaks to journalists on Saturday, March 22, 2025, in the entrance hall of Rome’s Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic, where Pope Francis has been treated for bilateral pneumonia since Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

“I find him very lively,” Dr. Sergio Alfieri said, after visiting the pope at his apartment in the Santa Marta Domus on Wednesday, three days after his release from Rome’s Gemelli hospital. “I believe that he will return if not to 100%, 90% of where he was before.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.