Dem Lawyer: Trump Could Still Win 2028

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A Democratic lawyer says President Trump could still win the White House in 2028, even though the Constitution says a president can only win twice.

Story Snapshot

Democratic attorney Dmitri Mehlhorn argues Trump has a real path to a third term if institutions fail to enforce the 22nd Amendment.
Trump told NBC News in 2025 he was “not joking” and said there were “methods” for staying in office past two terms.
Constitutional scholars across the political spectrum call any third-term plan unconstitutional, with no credible legal path.
The debate highlights growing public worry that political leaders will bend rules rather than follow them.

A Lawyer’s Warning Gains Attention

Dmitri Mehlhorn, a Democratic attorney and political strategist, says President Trump could run again in 2028 and win a third term in office. He argues this could happen even though the Constitution’s language seems to clearly block it, if political institutions fail to enforce the rule. His warning has spread quickly online, fueling fresh debate about whether safeguards built into the Constitution can actually stop a determined president.

Trump has repeatedly refused to rule out seeking a third term. In a March 2025 interview with NBC News, he said he was “not joking” about the idea and claimed there were “methods” for making it happen. He has since posted about a 2028 campaign and worn hats referencing a third term, even while admitting the Constitution stands in his way.

What the 22nd Amendment Actually Says

The 22nd Amendment states plainly: “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice”. Ratified in 1951 after Franklin Roosevelt won four elections, the amendment was designed to close the door on multi-term presidencies for good. Legal experts across party lines describe this language as about as clear as constitutional text gets.

Some have floated a workaround where Trump runs as vice president, then takes over the top job. Legal scholars reject that idea too. Constitutional law professor Derek Muller points to the 12th Amendment, which blocks anyone ineligible for the presidency from becoming vice president as well. Fact-checkers have called this proposed loophole a misreading of the Constitution, not a real legal strategy.

Experts Across the Spectrum Push Back

Legal scholars from both conservative and liberal backgrounds have lined up against the third-term theory. Constitutional law professors, fact-checking organizations, and legal historians describe the amendment’s wording as “ironclad” and say there is simply no legitimate path around it. Harvard’s Laurence Tribe and Berkeley Law’s Erwin Chemerinsky, both prominent constitutional experts, say a new amendment allowing a third term has no realistic chance of passing.

Amending the Constitution requires approval from two-thirds of Congress and three-fourths of the states, a bar experts say is nearly impossible to clear for a change this controversial. That reality leaves Mehlhorn’s warning resting less on legal certainty and more on a concern about whether institutions, courts, and election officials will actually enforce the rule when the moment comes.

Why This Debate Matters to Voters

This fight taps into a deeper worry shared by many Americans, regardless of party: that powerful figures might find ways around rules meant to limit their power. Conservatives who back Trump’s agenda and liberals who oppose it both have reason to care whether constitutional limits hold firm. A president testing the boundaries of term limits touches a nerve about accountability that cuts across the usual political divide.

For now, no court has ruled on the matter, and no formal third-term campaign exists. The dispute remains a war of public statements and legal opinions rather than an active legal case. Still, the fact that a sitting president keeps raising the idea, and that it draws serious pushback from legal experts, keeps the question alive heading toward 2028.