Former U.S. President Trump's White House chief strategist Steve Bannon departs after he was found guilty during his trial at U.S. District Court in Washington
Steve Bannon, a former top aide, suggests Donald Trump has a secret strategy to return to the White House for an unprecedented third term in 2028, despite the two-term rule in the US Constitution.

Could Donald Trump stage a third run for the US Presidency in 2028? Conventional wisdom and the Constitution say no, but his former chief strategist, Steve Bannon, is hinting that a secret strategy exists to circumvent the Constitution's two-term limit.

If accurate, the claim suggests a stunning attempt to reshape American politics and raises serious questions about the future of the nation's democratic checks and balances.

Bannon's Audacious Claim: A 2028 'Path' to Power

Serving as the White House's main strategist for the first seven months of his initial administration, Steve Bannon has openly discussed the President's strategies to disregard the nation's governing laws and secure a third term in the 2028 election.

During a conversation with The Economist, Bannon, who supports Trump, asserted, 'He's gonna get a Third term' and then stressed that 'people just ought to get accommodated with that'. Should this happen, it would directly bypass the US Constitution's 22nd Amendment.

When questioned about how the President would get around the 22nd Amendment's two-term limit, Bannon maintained there were 'many alternatives' but he offered no details. Coyly, Banner said that at the right moment, we'll reveal what the strategy is, while insisting, 'there's a plan, and President Trump will be the President in '28.'

The 'Divine Will' and the Push to Keep the Leader in Office

He went on to argue that Trump faced longer odds in '16 and longer odds in '24' than he currently does for the 2028 election. Bannon strongly maintained that the USA 'needs him to be the President of the United States.'

'We have to finish what we started', he declared. Describing Trump as an 'instrument of divine will', he remarked that 'you can tell this from how he's pulled this off'. He further added that this was true even though the President is not 'churchy' or 'particularly religious'. The ally of Trump concluded, 'We need him for at least one more term, and he'll get that in '28'.

Defying the Rules: A President's Quest for a Third Stint

This isn't the first time Bannon has put forward the notion that there are ways for Trump to regain the presidency in 2028, a claim he made in another interview earlier this month.

In an interview on 11 October on NewsNation's BATYA!, the programme's host, Batya Ungar-Sargon, questioned the architect of the MAGA movement on whether he thought the Twenty-Second Amendment presented a 'barrier' for the President.

'I think that there are many different alternatives that at the appropriate time after the midterms in '26, we will roll out', Bannon responded. 'But I think there are many different alternatives to make sure that President Trump is on the ballot, and if he's on the ballot, he'll win'.

It's also unclear if Trump, who openly sells 'Trump 2028' caps, feels restricted by the Twenty-Second Amendment — or indeed, by the entire US Constitution.

In March, he told NBC's Kristen Welker that he was 'not joking' about considering a third term, asserting that there were 'methods' by which he could continue to serve in the White House.

Will the Supreme Court Step in To Uphold the Law?

However, the Twenty-Second Amendment remains clear: '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.'

The central question is whether the Supreme Court will enforce this rule — and, given recent comments from Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Clarence Thomas, that outcome is far from certain.

It appears that the quiet discussion about re-electing a man who once refused to accept the results of a presidential poll has now become incredibly obvious. And, in a strange twist, Republican politicians have recently worked to declare 'No Kings' demonstrations across the country as criminal acts.