Trump ‘probably' won't seek third term — which US law forbids anyway
Speaking to CNBC on Tuesday, the US President, who once mused about seeking a third term if it were legally possible, appeared to temper expectations about another White House bid.
'No, probably not, probably not. I'd like to … I have the best poll numbers I've ever had,' Trump said, per Metro. Donald Trump has cast fresh doubt on a future return to the campaign trail, despite boasting of record popularity in the polls. Pic:Trump has long toyed with the idea of stretching the limits of presidential tradition. He has repeatedly joked about the possibility of a third term, leaning into his reputation for defying political norms.
Back in November, Trump quipped to House Republicans; 'I suspect I won't be running again unless you say, 'He's so good, we have to figure it out.''
The remark, like many of his off-the-cuff lines, fueled speculation that he might be testing the waters for another unprecedented bid. Speaking to CNBC on Tuesday, the US President, who once mused about seeking a third term if it were legally possible, appeared to temper expectations about another White House bid. Pic:However, the U.S. Constitution leaves little room for interpretation on the matter, with the 22nd Amendment restricting any individual to serving two terms in the Oval Office.
This amendment was added to the Constitution in 1951 after Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected four times in a row.
It states: '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.'
Regardless of this, in a phone call with NBC News earlier this year, when asked to clarify on running for a third term, Trump said: 'I am not joking. There are methods which you could do it.'
Trump will also be 82 at the end of his second term in 2028, meaning if he were to run for a third term he would be 86 by the end of his presidency.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Independent
an hour ago
- Irish Independent
Trump and pharma industry discuss boosting medicine spending abroad to cut US prices, sources say
LATEST: Trump's broad tariffs are now officially in effect President Donald Trump has begun levying higher import taxes on dozens of countries, just as the economic fallout of his months-long tariff threats has begun to create visible damage for the US economy. Just after midnight, goods from more than 60 countries and the European Union (EU) became subject to tariff rates of 10pc or higher. Products from the European Union, Japan and South Korea are taxed at 15pc, while imports from Taiwan, Vietnam and Bangladesh are taxed at 20pc. Mr Trump also expects the EU, Japan and South Korea to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in the US. 'I think the growth is going to be unprecedented,' Mr Trump said on Wednesday afternoon. He added that the US was 'taking in hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs', but he could not provide a specific figure for revenues because 'we don't even know what the final number is' regarding tariff rates. Despite the uncertainty, the Trump White House is confident that the onset of his broad tariffs will provide clarity about the path of the world's largest economy. Now that companies understand the direction the US is headed, the administration believes it can ramp up new investments and jump-start hiring in ways that can rebalance the US economy as a manufacturing power. But so far, there are signs of self-inflicted wounds to America as companies and consumers alike brace for the impact of new taxes. What the data has shown is a US economy that changed in April with Mr Trump's initial rollout of tariffs, an event that led to market drama, a negotiating period and Mr Trump's ultimate decision to start his universal tariffs on Thursday. After April, economic reports show that hiring began to stall, inflationary pressures crept upward and home values in key markets started to decline, said John Silvia, chief executive of Dynamic Economic Strategy. 'A less productive economy requires fewer workers,' Mr Silvia said in an analysis note. 'But there is more, the higher tariff prices lower workers' real wages. The economy has become less productive, and firms cannot pay the same real wages as before. Actions have consequences.' Even then, the ultimate transformations of the tariffs are unknown and could play out over months, if not years. Many economists say the risk is that the American economy is steadily eroded rather than collapsing instantly. 'We all want it to be made for television where it's this explosion – it's not like that,' said Brad Jensen, a professor at Georgetown University. 'It's going to be fine sand in the gears and slow things down.' Mr Trump has promoted the tariffs as a way to reduce the persistent trade deficit. But importers sought to avoid the taxes by importing more goods before the taxes went into effect. As a result, the 582.7 billion dollar trade imbalance for the first half of the year was 38pc higher than in 2024. Total construction spending has dropped 2.9pc over the past year. The lead-up to Thursday fit the slapdash nature of Mr Trump's tariffs, which have been variously rolled out, walked back, delayed, increased, imposed by letter and frantically renegotiated. The process has been so muddled that officials for key trade partners were unclear at the start of the week whether the tariffs would begin on Thursday or Friday. The language of the July 31 order to delay the start of tariffs from August 1 said the higher tax rates would start in seven days. On Wednesday morning, Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, was asked if the new tariffs began at midnight on Thursday, and he said reporters should check with the US Trade Representative's Office. Mr Trump on Wednesday announced additional 25pc tariffs to be imposed on India for its buying of Russian oil, bringing its total import taxes to 50pc. A top body of Indian exporters said on Thursday that the latest US tariffs will impact nearly 55pc of the country's outbound shipments to America and force exporters to lose their long-standing clients. 'Absorbing this sudden cost escalation is simply not viable. Margins are already thin,' SC Ralhan, president of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations, said. Import taxes are still coming on pharmaceutical drugs and Mr Trump announced 100pc tariffs on computer chips. That could leave the US economy in a place of suspended animation as it awaits the impact. The president's use of a 1977 law to declare an economic emergency to impose the tariffs is also under challenge. The impending ruling from last week's hearing before a US appeals court could cause Mr Trump to find other legal justifications if judges say he exceeded his authority. Even people who worked with Mr Trump during his first term are sceptical that things will go smoothly for the economy, such as Paul Ryan, the former Republican House of Representatives speaker, who has emerged as a Trump critic. 'There's no sort of rationale for this other than the president wanting to raise tariffs based upon his whims, his opinions,' Mr Ryan told CNBC on Wednesday. 'I think choppy waters are ahead because I think they're going to have some legal challenges.' Still, the stock market has been solid during the recent tariff drama, with the S&P 500 index climbing more than 25pc from its April low. The market's rebound and the income tax cuts in Mr Trump's tax and spending measures signed into law on July 4 have given the White House confidence that economic growth is bound to accelerate in the coming months. As of now, Mr Trump still foresees an economic boom while the rest of the world and American voters wait nervously. 'There's one person who can afford to be cavalier about the uncertainty that he's creating, and that's Donald Trump,' said Rachel West, a senior fellow at The Century Foundation who worked in the Biden White House on labour policy.
Irish Examiner
2 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Higher tariffs will bring in $50bn a month into US coffers, claims Lutnick
US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick said on Thursday he expects the country is heading towards $50bn (€42bn) billion a month in tariff revenues as higher levies on imports from dozens of countries kick in. "Then you're going to get the semiconductors, you're going to get pharmaceuticals, you're going to get all sorts of additional tariff money coming in," Mr Lutnick said in an interview with Fox Business Network. When asked whether an August 12 deadline to reach a tariff agreement with China could be extended again, Mr Lutnick said it was possible. "I think we're going to leave that to the trade team and to the president to make those decisions, but it feels like likely that they're going to come to an agreement and extend that for another 90 days, but I'll leave it to that team." US president Donald Trump's higher tariffs on imports from dozens of countries kicked in on Thursday, raising the average US import duty to its highest in a century and leaving major trade partners such as Switzerland, Brazil, and India hurriedly searching for a better deal. The USCustoms and Border Protection agency began collecting the higher tariffs of 10% to 50% at 4.01am Irish time after weeks of suspense over Mr Trump's final tariff rates and frantic negotiations with countries seeking to lower them. The leaders of Brazil and India vowed not to be cowed by Mr Trump's hardline bargaining position, even while their negotiators sought a reprieve from the highest tariff levels. The new rates will test Mr Trump's strategy for shrinking US trade deficits without causing massive disruptions to global supply chains or provoking higher inflation and stiff retaliation from trading partners. After unveiling his "Liberation Day" tariffs in April, Mr Trump has frequently modified his plans, slapping much higher rates on imports from some countries, including 50% for goods from Brazil, 39% from Switzerland, 35% from Canada and 25% from India. He announced on Wednesday a separate 25% tariff on Indian goods, to be imposed in 21 days, over India's purchases of Russian oil. Tariffs are ultimately paid by companies importing the goods, and passed on in full or in part to consumers of end products. Mr Trump's top trade negotiator, Jamieson Greer, said the US was working to reverse decades of policies that had weakened the US manufacturing capacity and workforce, and that many other countries shared concerns about macroeconomic imbalances. "The rules of international trade cannot be a suicide pact," he wrote in a column published by the New York Times. "By imposing tariffs to rebalance the trade deficit and negotiating significant reforms that form the basis of a new international system, the United States has shown bold leadership," Mr Greer said. Eight major trading partners accounting for about 40% of US trade flows have reached framework deals for trade and investment concessions to Trump, including the European Union, Japan and South Korea, reducing their base tariff rates to 15%. Britain won a 10% rate, while Vietnam, Indonesia, Pakistan and the Philippines secured rate reductions to 19% or 20%. "There'll be some supply chain rearrangement. There'll be a new equilibrium. Prices here will go up, but it'll take a while for that to show up in a major way," said William Reinsch, a senior fellow and trade expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. Switzerland's government was to hold an emergency meeting on Thursday after its president Karin Keller-Sutter returned home empty-handed from an 11th-hour trip to Washington aimed at averting the crippling US import tariff on Swiss goods. A last-minute attempt by South Africa to improve its offer in exchange for a lower tariff rate also failed. The two countries' trade negotiating teams will have more talks, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa's office said. Vietnam said on Thursday it will continue talks with the US as it seeks to lower tariffs further still after negotiating a reduction to 20% from the 46% duty Trump slapped on the Southeast Asian country in April. Meanwhile, Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told Reuters on Wednesday he wouldn't humiliate himself by seeking a phone call with Mr Trump even as he said his government would continue cabinet-level talks to lower a 50% tariff rate. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was similarly defiant, saying he would not compromise the interests of the country's farmers. There were also signs that some countries were rallying together to confront Trump, with Brazil's Lula saying he would call the leaders of India and China to discuss a joint BRICS response to tariffs. India said on Wednesday that Modi will visit China for the first time in seven years.
Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Irish Times
Apple's new investment in US may be just enough to appease Trump, for now at least
As a US company that relies on overseas manufacturing, Apple must feel like it is stuck stuck between the Wall Street rock and an increasing tough, tariff-filled hard place. The company made a move to try to stave off the worst of the US tariff repercussions this week when it announced it would invest an additional $100 billion (€860 million) in the US over four years, beefing up its American manufacturing capabilities. That is on top of the $500 billion it already announced in February. It may be enough to side-step the worst of the tariffs hit - for now. But is it enough to keep the US president happy long term? On the face of it, this is good news for the president and his agenda. An extra $100 billion makes for some good headlines. Apple chief executive Tim Cook outlined big plans for the company's $2.5 billion investment in Corning in Kentucky, where displays for its iPhones and Apple Watches are currently made. The plan is eventually to have all glass for the devices made at the facility. READ MORE There was also a lot he didn't say. He didn't specify if this additional investment would lead to any new jobs at Apple itself, with much of the focus instead on its manufacturing partnerships. Though any jobs created as a result of Apple's extra investment in these companies will go down as a plus for the tech giant. [ Trump hails additional $100bn Apple investment in US Opens in new window ] Apple has already said it will create 20,000 jobs in the US over the coming four years, as part of the February announcement that saw it commit to producing AI servers in the US. The company has traditionally been more conservative about hiring, and in an environment where tech companies are continuing to trim headcount, it seems wise not to over-promise on that front. The Apple chief also didn't commit to any sort of timeline for US-made iPhones, saying only that it would be 'elsewhere for a while'. But is anyone really expecting Apple to pack up its manufacturing abroad and shift it to the US to avoid tariffs? Even if Apple wanted to, there are several reasons why that plan won't work. Or at least, not on the timeline Trump is seeking. Like many companies that manufacture at scale, Apple has built up a significant and complex manufacturing operation abroad. Much of that is in China, although the company has been moving some production to India and Vietnam in response to Donald Trump 's tariff plans. Trying to replicate that operation and its associated supply chains in the US would take time; building up the expertise alone is a huge undertaking. And given the reaction of Wall Street when the matter was raised a few months ago, investors would be unlikely to welcome the plan with open arms. Even if Apple could avoid tariffs by assembling devices – at greater cost, thanks to higher wages – in the US, some components will need to made overseas and imported anyway, and inevitably be hit by the tariffs along the way. That will inevitably raise costs for American consumers. According to a note by Bank of America analyst Wamsi Mohan, assembling iPhones in the US would increase costs by about a quarter, and that is before the impact of potential reciprocal tariffs on imported components is taken into account. Apple may have built its reputation on making 'magical' devices, but even the tech giant would find it difficult to master this particular trick.
