President Donald Trump is at it again, testing the waters and seemingly joking about breaking the law, floating the idea of running for a third term as president.
Trump traveled to suburban Atlanta to Wheeler High School in Marietta, Georgia, Wednesday, July 22, to promote his Trump Accounts, a new investment initiative, basically savings accounts, for children.
Trump began by addressing a roaring crowd of MAGA supporters who had gathered at the school.
US President Donald Trump speaks at Wheeler High School, in Marietta, Georgia, on July 22, 2026. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images)
“I just want to thank everybody. You know we had a tremendous victory here,” Trump crowed as the crowd chanted “USA, USA.”
Actually, that’s false. Marietta is in Cobb County, which voted for former President Joe Biden in 2020 and former Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024.
Then he said something he’s said before but wasn’t quite able to get the words out clearly.
“I am here to announce my candidacy,“ Trump told the roaring crowd, slurring the key word so heavily it sounded like “can-da-sea.” As supporters cheered and howled at the unexpected reveal, he quickly walked it back, adding, “I’m only kidding. I’m only kidding.”
But it’s very difficult to tell if Trump is kidding or not.
Social media, not known for remaining silent no matter how Trump may embarrass himself, erupted in glee over his slurring and slammed him over hinting at a third term.
“Did he say candussy?” a Threads user wondered.
Another pointed out, “If you can’t pronounce the word…”
This commenter pointed out, “He was hoping for a better response then said ‘just kidding.’ He’s testing the waters.”
“Is there anything more cringe than that stupid ‘USA’ chant??” poster Barry Aptt remarked.
Since first winning office in 2016, Trump has floated the idea of running for a third term repeatedly, something outlawed under the U.S. Constitution’s 22nd Amendment.
There’s not really an official count of how many times Trump said this because some of the remarks were either short jokes or off-the-cuff comments over the years. But news outlets have reported that he’s publicly raised the possibility of serving more than two terms as president at least 10 times between 2018 and 2025.
Three of those times occurred in 2025.
In January, shortly after starting his second term as president, Trump told a crowd of House Republicans at an event in Doral, Florida, “I’ve raised a lot of money for the next race that I assume I can’t use for myself, but I’m not 100 percent sure,” according to NBC News.
But he wasn’t through musing about the prospect, asking House Speaker Mike Johnson, “Am I allowed to run again?”
Then in March he told NBC he was “not joking” about exploring the possibility of running for a third term and that he knew of “methods” that could allow that to happen.
And a few days later on Air Force One he refused to confirm to reporters that he would leave office when his second term ends on Jan. 20, 2029.
On April 22, 2025, in an interview with Time, after he started selling “Trump 2028” merchandise, he spoke out of both sides of his mouth when again asked about an attempted third term.
“I’d rather not discuss that now, but as you know, there are some loopholes that have been discussed that are well known. But I don’t believe in loopholes. I don’t believe in using loopholes,” he panned.
He then repeated in subsequent interviews that “it’s not something” he’s planning to do.
