President Donald Trump has once again opened the door to running for a third term, convinced that his poll numbers are soaring because Americans love his tariffs.
In a lengthy interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box on Tuesday, the president fueled MAGA’s dream of Trump remaining in the White House for another four years, as he defended his global trade wars and other controversial policies.
“I’d like to run, I have the best poll numbers I’ve ever had,” Trump said, even as his interviewers pointed out that his poll numbers were not that rosy.
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“You know why? Because people love the tariffs, and they love that foreign countries aren’t ripping us off anymore. For years they ripped us off, friend and foe.”
Trump’s comments come as the RealClearPolitics polling aggregator shows his average approval rating is 5 points underwater, with just 46 percent of Americans approving of his performance while 51 percent disapprove.
But his comments on Tuesday were not the first time that the president has flirted with the idea of a third term, something that is prohibited under the U.S. Constitution.
In May, for example, he told NBC News that “a lot of people want me to do it,” referring to his allies.
To do so would require overcoming the massive hurdle of a constitutional amendment, which involves a two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress, as well as ratification by three-quarters of the states.
Nonetheless, Trump touted the idea again on Tuesday morning in a broad-ranging interview in which the president also claimed his weak jobs numbers were “rigged”; revived his lie that the 2020 election was stolen; and praised Attorney General Pam Bondi for opening up a grand jury probe into the so-called “Russia hoax.”
Bondi on Monday ordered a federal prosecutor to present evidence to a federal grand jury outlining the department’s claim that Obama officials engaged in a “treasonous conspiracy” to undermine Trump’s first-term agenda by linking him to Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
The probe could pave the way for a potential indictment against key officials who served under the former president, including former FBI director James Comey, former CIA director John Brennan and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.
Asked if he gave the order to Bondi to open the investigation, Trump insisted: “I have nothing to do with it.” He added: “I will tell you this. They deserve it.”
However, critics branded the administration’s claims as yet another attempt to divert attention from the firestorm Trump has faced over his links to sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
“The bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction,” Obama’s office said in a rare rebuke last month.
Trump also talked up his tariff policies, despite last week’s jobs data showing that the uncertainty surrounding them contributed to slower growth.
Under the administration’s latest tariff plan, the “universal” tariff for goods coming into the U.S will remain at 10% for countries in which the US has a trade surplus.
But dozens of other countries with trade deficits will now be subjected to tariffs ranging from 15% to about 40%.
When pressed about a third run, Trump eventually acknowledged that he “probably” wouldn’t go through with it.
“Probably not,” he laughed, before adding: “But I want to.”
