US Politics
Alan Dershowitz tells Trump the Constitution ‘wasn’t clear’ on his serving a third term as president continues to joke about running again
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Alan Dershowitz has told Donald Trump that the Constitution “wasn’t clear” on serving a third term in office, according to a new report, as the president continues to joke about running again.
Dershowitz, Trump’s former lawyer, met with the president in the Oval Office and says that he delivered the GOP leader a draft of his new book. The document reportedly details how a president can run for a third term, and Dershowitz says that Trump plans to read it.
“I said ‘it’s not clear if a president can become a third-term president and it’s not clear if it’s permissible,’” Dershowitz told the Wall Street Journal.
In his book titled Could President Trump Constitutionally Serve a Third Term?, Dershowitz lays out several scenarios he believes could allow Trump to run again.
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One of those scenarios would involve members of the Electoral College abstaining from their vote if Trump won another election. That would allow Congress to select and elect the president.
However, the National Constitution Center told the WSJ that the scenario Dershowitz describes has occurred only twice in history. Neither event led Congress to decide on a president.
James Sample, a professor at Hofstra University’s law school, also described the idea as “absurd” in an interview with the WSJ.
“The one scenario about which I think there is quasi-credible concern is a scenario in which two allies—perhaps JD Vance and Donald Trump Jr. or whomever, run with a plan not to serve; resign upon taking office; and because the speaker of the House is not required to be a Member of Congress, Trump is elected Speaker, with the aim of succession,” Sample added.
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Meanwhile, Trump’s own chief of staff shut down rumors that he could run for office once more. Susie Wiles told Vanity Fair that her boss “knows he can’t run again.”
Even Trump himself admitted that the Constitution was “pretty clear” that he was “not allowed to run.”
Despite that, his supporters have continued to push the idea that he could win an unprecedented third term in 2028. Also, Trump has continued to sell hats reading “TRUMP 2028” for $50.
Dershowitz told the WSJ that he handed billionaire Trump supporter Miriam Adelson a copy of his book. While glancing at the book, he claims that she said, “Is this real? Oh my god, I hope this can happen.”
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Later, during a Hanukkah celebration at the White House, Adelson recalled the conversation and said, “Alan, I agree with you.”
“So we can do it,” she added.
Shortly after, the crowd started chanting “four more years” as Trump grinned.
Taking the mic, he claimed that Adelson had said, “Think about it, and I’ll give you another $250 million.”
Federal Election Commission records, seen by the WSJ, suggest that Adelson donated $100 million to a pro-Trump political action committee and $145 million to other Republicans during the 2024 presidential election.