Can Trump run again in 2024 if he loses to Biden?
President Donald Trump could potentially pursue a future election run under the U.S. Constitution.
Should President Donald Trump fail to win his re-election bid against Democratic challenger Joe Biden, it may not be the definitive end of his time in power.
Under the US Constitution, the president could technically run again in 2024, as multiple former Trump advisors have suggested he might in the lead-up to and following Tuesday’s election.
Speaking to the Today programme, former Trump advisor Bryan Lanza said he believed the president would be in a “good position” to run again in four years’ time.
“Everybody thought this was going to be a blowout election,” Lanza said. “We were talking about a double-digit lead, we were talking about an Electoral College landslide and we're far from that.”
“If I'm advising the President and, occasionally, we have conversations I would say to him, ‘Sir, you are in a good position right now, if you come up short, to run again in four years’,” he continued.
However, he said, if Trump does want to run it is important that he is careful on his “way out” to make sure that he does not “damage a potential race four years from now".
Even if the president failed to win a second term, Bannon said: “You’re not going to see the end of Donald Trump.”
If Trump does lose his re-election bid, both Lanza and Bannon may be right.
Under the US Constitution, it could be entirely possible for Trump to seek election again in 2024 if he loses the 2020 race to Biden.
Under the 22nd Amendment, it is stated that: “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice".
That requirement, however, does not provide a time frame for when those two terms must be held.
President Donald Trump speaks to the press at General Mitchell International Airport November 2, 2020, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Former Trump advisors have said the president could run again if he loses his re-election bid.
President Donald Trump speaks to the press at General Mitchell International Airport November 2, 2020, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Former Trump advisors have said the president could run again if he loses his re-election bid. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)
As such, if Trump were to lose his re-election bid, he could serve a second single term if elected in 2024.
If Trump did attempt a comeback, he would not be the first US president to do so, with President Grover Cleveland making a successful second election bid in 1892.
Cleveland became the 22nd president of the US in 1884, but was defeated in his re-election bid against Republican rival Benjamin Harrison.
In 1892, Cleveland made a comeback, however, becoming the 24th president as well.