Trump 'not joking' about third term

Agencies

US President Donald Trump says "a lot of people" want him to run for a third term in the White House.

He also threatened "secondary tariffs" on Russian oil buyers, which sent stocks around the world lower, ahead of a reciprocal tariff push on "all countries" set to kick in tomorrow.

Trump said he wouldn't rule out seeking a third term in the White House, telling NBC News in a phone interview on Sunday that "there are methods" that would allow him to do so.

"I'm not joking," Trump said. "But I'm not - it is far too early to think about it."

The 22nd Amendment to the US Constitution, enacted after Franklin Roosevelt was elected to a fourth term in 1944, prohibits US presidents from serving more than two terms.

"A lot of people want me to do it," said Trump, who will be 82 at the end of his current term.

He declined to specify the methods by which he could legally serve a third term. He was elected in 2016, defeated in 2020 by Joe Biden and reelected in 2024.

Trump is set to launch so-called reciprocal tariffs tomorrow, a centerpiece of his plan to rebalance global trade and boost US manufacturing while collecting tariff payments to fund his domestic policy priorities, including an extension of tax cuts from his first administration and additional tax promises made during the 2024 campaign. "You'd start with all countries, so let's see what happens," Trump said.

The Trump administration has signaled that each country's reciprocal tariffs could form the starting point for future negotiations, a stance that has sent countries rushing to offer concessions and play up their trade relationships with the United States.

Global stocks selloffs deepened yesterday with the Nikkei-225 sinking to the lowest level in more than six months while indexes in Hong Kong, South Korea and Australia fell along with equity-index futures for the US and Europe. Gold touched a fresh record high.

Trump also said he was "pissed off" at Russian leader Vladimir Putin for casting doubt on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's legitimacy as a negotiating partner, and threatened curbs on "all oil coming out of Russia."

He later added that he didn't think the Russian president would "go back on his word."

Trump maintained pressure on Zelensky to agree to a deal to give the United States access to Ukraine's resources.

"He's trying to back out of the rare earth deal and if he does that he's got some problems - big, big problems," Trump said. "If he's looking to renegotiate the deal, he's got big problems."

Trump also said he's considering punishing Tehran with unspecified "secondary tariffs" and raised the threat of bombing Iran until it signs a deal that renounces nuclear weapons. "If they don't make a deal, there will be bombing," NBC cited Trump as saying.

Iran told Trump in response to his overture that it won't hold talks with his administration, though indirect communications with the US remain a possibility, President Masoud Pezeshkian said.