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Lawyer tells Trump the Constitution is unclear on third term, WSJ reports
Trump said in October that he would not pursue a third term in what was a marked shift after months of teasing the idea of testing the Constitution's language on the topic.
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Reuters - Wed, 17, Dec 2025
- 21:30 EST
- 16
U.S. President Donald Trump waves as he returns to the White House from Dover Air Force Base, in Washington, D.C., December 17, 2025. / REUTERS/Aaron Schwartz
President Donald Trump discussed a draft copy of a book by lawyer Alan Dershowitz that examines whether Trump could constitutionally serve a third term as president, the Wall Street Journal reported on Dec. 17.
Trump's flirtation with the idea of a third term has alarmed opponents and constitutional experts, who say it would test the 22nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which Congress approved after Franklin Roosevelt was elected four times. The 22nd Amendment states in part that "No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice."
But Dershowitz said he told Trump on Dec. 17 that the Constitution was not clear on the issue. He said that during an Oval Office meeting, he handed Trump a draft of the book, titled “Could President Trump Constitutionally Serve a Third Term?”
ALSO READ: Trump says US law blocks bid for a third presidential term
The book, to be published next year, lays out various scenarios in which an individual could serve a third term, Dershowitz said. He said Trump told him that he planned to read the book and asked him for his conclusions about a third term.
“He found it interesting as an intellectual issue,” Dershowitz said in an interview with the Journal. “Do I think he’s going to run for a third term? No, I don’t think he will run for a third term.”
Trump said in October that he would not pursue a third term in what was a marked shift after months of teasing the idea of testing the Constitution's language on the topic. “If you read it, it’s pretty clear — I’m not allowed to run. It’s too bad, but we have a lot of great people,” Trump said at the time.
Asked about the Journal report on Dec. 17, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said "the American people would be lucky to have President Trump in office for even longer."
Trump won the presidency in 2016 and 2024 but continues to falsely claim that he lost the 2020 election due to extensive voter fraud, a view shared by millions of his supporters. Numerous inquiries, however, have found no evidence of fraud.
White House chief of staff Susie Wiles said in a Vanity Fair interview published this week that Trump “knows he can’t run again."
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