Trump says in Iowa he has a right to run again
The president acknowledged at a rally that the 22nd Amendment bars him, then repeated, without evidence, that 2020 was rigged.
Trump told a Republican crowd in Sioux City, Iowa, on Thursday that he believes he has the right to run again. His reason: that in 2020, he claimed, "they cheated." He offered no evidence of fraud that changed the result.
In the same breath, the president acknowledged the law does not allow it. The 22nd Amendment bars anyone from being elected president more than twice, and Trump already won in 2016 and 2024. A third term would take a constitutional amendment, which needs two-thirds of Congress and three-fourths of the states.
It was a campaign event. Midterm elections on Nov. 3, which will decide control of Congress, are days away. Trump urged the crowd to vote Republican and told them to picture him on the ballot.
The rally also had a gift made to order. Joe Mitchell, a 29-year-old Republican running in Iowa's second congressional district, handed Trump a framed certificate reading "Man of the Century." Mitchell designed it himself, and no institution is behind it. Trump took it, passed it to an aide and went on with his speech.
He has toyed with a third term for months. In March 2025 he said he was "not joking," and in May of that year he said he would not seek one.
For Mexico, the stakes are practical. The USMCA, immigration policy and the tariffs under negotiation with Washington all depend on who holds the White House after 2029, even though Trump himself conceded in Iowa that he cannot run. Americans vote on Nov. 3.
