Trump dismisses idea of running for vice president to extend power after 2028

US President Donald Trump has rejected suggestions that he could run for vice president in 2028 to bypass constitutional term limits and stay in power beyond his second term.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Monday during his trip to Japan, Trump acknowledged that such a move might technically be possible under the US Constitution but said he would never pursue it.

“I would be allowed to do that,” Trump said. “But I wouldn’t do it… I think it’s too cute. It wouldn’t be right.”

The 79-year-old president, who began his second term in January, is constitutionally barred from serving a third term in office. However, some of his most loyal supporters have floated the idea of him returning to power as vice president under a future Republican president — a theory Trump has neither encouraged nor fully dismissed until now.

Over recent months, Trump has teased his followers with merchandise featuring the slogan “Trump 2028,” fuelling speculation about his post-presidency ambitions.

Political commentators say the speculation intensified after Steve Bannon, Trump’s former strategist and a key figure in the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, claimed there was “a plan” to keep Trump in the White House beyond 2028.

“He is going to get a third term… Trump is going to be president in ’28. And people just ought to get accommodated with that,” Bannon told The Economist.

Another circulating theory among Trump loyalists suggests that Vice President JD Vance could run for president in 2028 with Trump as his running mate — only for Vance to resign after winning, thereby restoring Trump to the Oval Office.

While Trump has now publicly ruled out the idea, his comments are expected to further energize discussions about his political future and the long-term influence of the MAGA movement in American politics.