Prof. Zbigniew Lewicki, an American studies expert at the University of Warsaw, told Polish state news agency PAP that Trump could try to sidestep the US constitution's two-term limit by appearing on the 2028 ticket as a vice presidential candidate, with a plan for the elected president to step down shortly after taking office.
The discussion has resurfaced in US media as lawyers debate how the 22nd Amendment, adopted in 1951, should be interpreted. It states that no person shall be "elected" to the office of president more than twice, codifying a post-World War II limit on presidential tenure.
In an interview published by The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz said it was not clear whether Trump could become president again, and said he had conveyed that view to Trump.
Dershowitz, who defended Trump during his first impeachment, is preparing a book on whether a third Trump presidency could be constitutional.
Lewicki said he believed Trump was considering the option, and argued that, politically, another run could be attempted, even if it triggered serious social tensions and a constitutional crisis.
He rejected, however, a separate scenario discussed in the same US debate: that members of the Electoral College could withhold votes, pushing the final decision to Congress.
The Electoral College is the constitutional body that formally elects the president and vice president every four years, based on state-by-state results.
"You cannot manipulate the Electoral College," Lewicki said, calling that idea unrealistic and pointing out that some states legally restrict so-called "faithless electors" from changing their pledged vote. He argued that coordinating such an effort across many states would be unworkable.
The Wall Street Journal noted that only twice in US history have electors withheld votes from a living candidate, and those cases did not result in Congress deciding the presidential election.
The paper also cited the 2016 election, when a group of electors voted, or tried to vote, against their pledged candidate in an unusually visible episode.
Lewicki said the only feasible route for Trump to return to the presidency in 2029 would be to run for vice president in 2028 alongside a presidential nominee such as J.D. Vance.
Under the scenario he described, a Vance-Trump ticket could win the November election, and after the January 2029 inauguration, Vance would resign the next day as president. Under the 25th Amendment, which governs presidential succession, the vice president would then become president, meaning Trump would take office.
Lewicki argued that, in this case, Trump would not be "elected" president for a third time, because he would assume the office through succession rather than direct election, raising legal and ethical questions about abuse of the system but avoiding the need for any Electoral College maneuvering.
A similar view was presented in the US debate by James Sample, a law professor at Hofstra University, according to the account cited in the PAP report.
The two-term rule was written into the constitution after Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt served four terms.
Lewicki said Republicans sought the amendment out of frustration with Roosevelt's long tenure, and suggested that the limit later constrained potential third-term bids by presidents such as Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower.
More recently, US news outlet Axios has reported that Trump's public remarks on a possible 2028 bid have sent mixed signals.
It cited a May interview in which Trump said a new term was not something he was thinking about, while also pointing to later campaign-style messaging and merchandise suggesting "Trump 2028," even as figures in his circle offered conflicting statements about whether he could run again.
(rt/gs)
Source: PAP, Reuters