Former White House strategist and long-time Trump ally Steve Bannon is making headlines again. And this time, he is suggesting that Donald Trump could serve a third term as the President of the U.S. The claim, which directly challenges the U.S. Constitution, has sparked outrage and alarm among political observers.
On Thursday, the new interview with The Economist was released with Bannon, where he made a confident declaration. “He’s gonna get a third term. Trump is gonna be president in 2028, and people just ought to get accommodated with that,” he claimed.
When he was questioned about how that can happen, when the constitution explicitly forbids it, Bannon gave a vague reply. But he insisted that there was a plan at hand. “There’s many different alternatives,” he said. “At the appropriate time, we’ll lay out what the plan is, but there’s a plan.”
Steve Bannon insists that Donald Trump will be president again for a third term in 2028—and that America needs him to.
Mr Bannon, one of the chief architects of the MAGA movement, spoke to Zanny Minton Beddoes, our editor-in-chief, and Ed Carr, our deputy editor, in Washington,… pic.twitter.com/m0c8RG56Kd
— The Economist (@TheEconomist) October 23, 2025
The 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution clearly limits presidents to two elected terms. It states: “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.” Despite that, Bannon hinted that the Trump administration could try to reinterpret the amendment’s language. “We will define all those terms,” he said cryptically. He hinted that legal or constitutional loopholes might be part of the strategy.
Bannon had also helped Trump in his 2016 victory and, for some time, served as his chief strategist. He went further to describe Trump as “a vehicle of divine providence” and “an instrument of divine will” who, in his words, “needs at least one more term.”
That language raised eyebrows among political experts. A historian who studies authoritarian movements, Ruth Ben-Ghiat, called Bannon’s comments “creepy.” He was deeply concerned by the remarks. “In Strongmen, I explain that propagandists often present autocrats’ actions as sanctioned by a higher power,” she wrote on social media. “This is exactly that pattern.”
Critics are of the opinion that his remarks are not just symbolic but also dangerous. They argued that framing a political leader as ‘divinely chosen’ eradicates democratic norms. It even echoes tactics used by authoritarian regimes all over the world.
Even if Trump could somehow get around the Constitution, the idea of him running again in 2028 raises other practical questions. Trump will be 82 years old on Election Day that year, which would make him the oldest sitting president in U.S. history. If he were to complete another full term, he would leave office at age 86.
Despite the controversy, Trump himself has repeatedly hinted that he’s open to the idea. His campaign has sold “Trump 2028” merchandise, and in a March interview with NBC News, he insisted he wasn’t “joking” when he mentioned serving another term.
Bannon’s comments have raised a debate on how much Trump’s inner circle would go just to stay in power. The question is, would MAGA and Trump’s supporters accept such a move even if it goes against the Constitution?
Critics say this is not mere political theater but a test of American democracy’s limits. As Ben-Ghiat warned, “When leaders start talking about divine destiny and rewriting the rules, history shows — it rarely ends well.”
