Will Trump try to serve a third term? Here's what Americans said in a new poll

Brendan Rascius, The Charlotte Observer on Feb 26, 2025

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A slim majority of Americans believe President Donald Trump will try to stay in office past 2029, according to new polling.

In the latest YouGov poll, 52% of respondents said Trump will definitely or probably attempt to serve a third term. Meanwhile, 34% said he definitely or probably would not, and 15% said they weren’t sure.

The poll — conducted with 2,900 U.S. adults on Feb. 25 — found there were significant partisan differences on this question.

The vast majority of Democrats, 65%, said the president will definitely or probably try for a third term, while 49% of independents and 41% of Republicans said the same.

The poll comes after Trump repeatedly joked about running for an unconstitutional third term.

“It will be the greatest honor of my life to serve, not once but twice or three times or four times,” he said at a Jan. 25 rally in Las Vegas, before teasing that this comment would make “headlines from the fake news,” according to Roll Call.

“No, it will be to serve twice. For the next four years, I will not rest,” he added.

One month later, during a Black History Month event at the White House, the president brought the topic up again.

“Should I run again? You tell me?” according to The Hill. “There’s your controversy right there.”

Respondents in the poll — which has a margin of error of 2 percentage points — were also asked whether Trump should be allowed to serve for another term.

There was strong opposition to this idea, with 63% saying he definitely or probably should not be allowed to serve again. About one-quarter, 24%, said he definitely or probably should be allowed to.

Here, again, the answers diverged along partisan lines, with 78% of Democrats and 66% of independents saying he definitely or probably should not be granted the ability to run again.

Republicans, though, were about evenly divided. Forty-one percent said he definitely or probably should not be allowed to serve a third term, while a slightly larger share, 45%, said he definitely or probably should be allowed to run again.

This would require changing the Constitution, though.

The 22nd Amendment, ratified in 1951, limits the president to two terms in office. It was passed in response to former President Franklin Roosevelt’s unprecedented four terms in office, which sparked a debate over term limits, according to the National Constitution Center.

Repealing or altering this amendment, or any other, would require the support or three-quarters of state legislatures — which is a tall order.

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