Former White House strategist and right-wing commentator Steve Bannon has claimed that US President Donald Trump will return to power for a “third term” in 2028, arguing that America “needs him to finish what we started.”
Speaking during an interview in Washington, DC, with The Economist editor-in-chief Zanny Minton Beddoes and deputy editor Ed Carr, Bannon insisted that Trump would defy political odds and return to the White House despite constitutional restrictions under the 22nd Amendment, which limits presidents to two terms.
“He’s going to get a third term, so Trump 28. Trump is going to be president in 28, and people just ought to get accommodated with that,” Bannon declared. “So what about the 22nd Amendment? There’s many different alternatives. At the appropriate time, we’ll lay out what the plan is, but there’s a plan.”
Bannon, one of the architects of the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, described Trump as a divinely chosen leader whose role in American politics transcends conventional norms. “Trump is a vehicle—he’s a vehicle of divine providence. He’s an instrument. He’s very imperfect. He’s not churchy, not particularly religious, but he’s an instrument of divine will,” he said. “We need him for at least one more term, right? And he’ll get that in 28.”
Minton Beddoes pressed Bannon on whether pushing for another Trump presidency would undermine the Constitution. “You will be undermining the spirit of that amendment, even if you find some way around it,” she argued.
In response, Bannon maintained that a third Trump term would reflect, rather than violate, the will of the American people. “If the American people, with the mechanisms we have, put Trump back in office, are the American people tearing up the Constitution?” he asked. “Would that be tearing it up? Would the American people be going against the spirit of the Constitution, ma’am? I think not.”
Bannon dismissed suggestions that Trump’s potential return would amount to dictatorship. “Trump is nothing but a series of negotiations to keep this thing rolling forward, where he’s having trade-offs all the time,” he said, rejecting accusations of authoritarian intent.
Despite being challenged on apparent contradictions in his stance, particularly after he said the Constitution was “fit for purpose”, Bannon remained adamant that Trump’s leadership was essential for America’s future. “The only way President Trump wins in 2028 and continues to stay in office is by the will of the American people. And the will of the American people is what the Constitution embodies,” he said.
Bannon concluded, “We need to finish what we started.”
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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