US Election 2024: How many terms can a US president serve - can Donald Trump run again in 2028?

The former president will return to the presidency after he celebrated a historic win in the 2024 election, defeating sitting Vice President Kamala Harris. Many opponents of Trump had laughed at his aims of returning to the hallowed halls of the White House, but the 45th - and 47th - president has pulled off a stunning victory.

His non-consecutive victories is the first time a president has returned to the White House after an defeat in the previous election year. The last president to achieve the feat was Grover Cleveland, who served from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897.

It was a bitter blow to the Democrats, with Harris heading into the election marginally leading in the national polls. Her run at the White House was her first, after current President Joe Biden dropped out of the race earlier this year.

But now that Trump has returned to the White House, could he run again for a third time? Here’s everything you need to know.

How many terms can a US President serve?

The US constitution features an amendment which dictate how many times one person can hold the presidency. The 22nd Amendment reads: “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.”

An unofficial limit was introduced after George Washington, America’s first ever president, stood down following two terms in charge. As a mark of respect, his successors all followed this pattern until Franklin D. Roosevelt, who sat in the White House for four terms.

Roosevelt was president from 1932 until 1944, with his popularity through the Great Depression period and later through the Second World War buoying his re-elections. However, after his death in 1945, the US House of Representatives proposed making the two-term limit an official amendment, which was eventually accepted and ratified.

Can Donald Trump run again in 2028?

Trump, 78, has shocked the world with his return, which has been labelled as the “greatest political comeback in American history” by his soon-to-be Vice President JD Vance. However, much as he may be keen to continue the MAGA legacy, Trump will not be eligible to run for president in 2028 due to the above amendment.