President Trump cannot run for a third term as president, barring changes to the Constitution. But that has not stopped him from openly flirting with the idea.
He has floated it publicly and privately, and on Sunday, he said he was “not joking” about it. In an interview with NBC News, he insisted there were “methods” to circumvent the two-term limit set out by the 22nd Amendment.
Mr. Trump has not specified those methods, and there are no apparent signs that he is actually laying groundwork for a third term. But his musings — whether based in reality or not — serve a distinct political purpose.
They redirect attention from other controversies, such as the leaked Signal message chain in which his top advisers discussed details of a military operation. And they freeze the field of potential successors who may steal the spotlight from a lame duck — a status dreaded by American presidents, who see their relevance diminish steadily over time.
“It reads like somebody who doesn’t want to be treated like a lame duck and is throwing it out there right now,” said Derek T. Muller, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame and a scholar in election law. “It’s really hard to be a lame duck president or to be treated that way, and people are talking to you like your term’s already over.”
In January, Representative Andy Ogles of Tennessee, a Republican, proposed a long shot amendment to the Constitution to make Mr. Trump eligible for a third term.
But on Capitol Hill on Monday, top Republicans rejected the idea of changing the Constitution and suggested the president was joking. Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the Senate majority leader, said Mr. Trump was “probably having some fun with it,” and Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the House majority leader, said the comments were aimed to “get people talking.” White House officials suggested the same, noting Mr. Trump did not bring up the topic unprompted but only responded to questions asked by reporters.
“Look, you guys continue to ask the president this question about a third term, and then he answers honestly and candidly with a smile, and then everybody here melts down about his answer,” Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, told reporters Monday.
She added: “It’s not really something we’re thinking about. He has four years. There’s a lot of work to do. We’ve done a lot, nearly for 100 days. And the American people love what this president is doing.”
Dave Carney, a Republican strategist who ran Preserve America, a pro-Trump super PAC, said Mr. Trump’s strategy may be to keep people guessing.
“It keeps people uncomfortable,” he said. “The people on the left are going to go crazy, and it’s going to put other people on notice that Trump’s going to be around longer than we think. Trump excels by keeping people off kilter and uncomfortable.”
“He hasn’t broken a law. He hasn’t said he’s going to,” Mr. Carney added. “He said there are a lot of different options out there. His ability to infuriate his opponents is one of his greatest strengths while the Democrats are in disarray.”
Mr. Trump has made clear that he has no interest in sharing the spotlight. Just a few months into his second term, he has declared a broad mandate to reshape the federal government and demonstrated an expansive view of executive power. And he has chafed against any efforts to rein him in.
Republicans on Capitol Hill have fallen in line with his agenda, ceding much of their power to him. And when federal judges have halted his administration, Mr. Trump has lashed out, suggesting they should be impeached. Democrats worry Mr. Trump’s comments about judges and a third term are hurtling the country toward a constitutional crisis.
“I’m very concerned that he is going to seek to exert maximum power until he’s checked,” Representative Ro Khanna of California, a Democrat, said in an interview Monday.
For now, Mr. Trump maintains that he is focused on his second term.
“I don’t even want to talk about it,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday night. “I’m just telling you I have had more people saying, ‘Please run again.’ We have a long way to go before we even think about that but I’ve had a lot of people.”
On Monday, a Fox News reporter, seemingly trying to bait Mr. Trump, asked him a hypothetical question: If he were allowed to run for a third term, would the Democrats try to run former President Barack Obama against him? (Mr. Obama already served two terms and has shown zero interest in running for elected office again.)
“I would love that,” Mr. Trump said. “That would be a good one.”
Erica L. Green contributed reporting.
