Can Trump run again after leaving the White House? Yes, and others have done it
President Donald Trump has floated running for president again after he leaves the White House — and he wouldn’t be the first to do it.
Trump has refused to concede to President-elect Joe Biden — who The Associated Press and other major media outlets projected as the winner of the presidential race on Nov. 7 — and has continued pushing baseless claims that the election was fraudulent when challenging the results.
Biden has 306 Electoral College votes to Trump 232, according to The AP. A candidate needs 270 to win.
He and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will be sworn into office on Jan. 20, 2021.
But Trump is reportedly considering a 2024 bid for president. He hinted he will seek the presidency again at a White House Christmas party Tuesday evening, saying “we’re trying to do another four years. Otherwise, I’ll see you in four years,” according to the Associated Press.
Sources familiar with the president’s plans told NBC News there is “preliminary planning” for Trump to announce his candidacy on Biden’s Inauguration Day.
Can Trump run again in 2024?
Yes.
The 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits a person from being elected president more than twice. But a president’s two terms don’t have to be consecutive.
Multiple Republicans have been floated as possible contenders for the party’s nomination in 2024, including former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, Vice President Mike Pence and Sens. Marco Rubio and Tom Cotton, The Hill reports. None have announced plans to run for president yet.
But if Trump were to run, it could spoil the chances of other Republican presidential hopefuls, Politico reports.
“Trump will definitely be the dominant force in the party if he either runs or hints at running,” Ari Fleischer, press secretary for former President George W. Bush, told Politico. “But politics never stands still.”
Trump will be 78 years old in 2024, which would make him one of the oldest people to seek the presidency if he runs. Biden turned 78 this November.
Who else has run after leaving office?
Former President Grover Cleveland is the only in U.S. history to successfully run for president after leaving office.
Cleveland served as the 22nd president for one term from 1885 until 1889 and again as the 24th president from 1893 until 1897, according to the White House. His policies were unpopular and his party later “deserted him.”
Other former presidents have tried.
After leaving the White House in 1909, Theodore Roosevelt ran again as a third-party candidate in 1912, splitting the Republican vote and tanking William Howard Taft’s reelection — clearing the way for Woodrow Wilson’s victory.
In 1852, the Whig party abandoned then-President Millard Fillmore in favor of nominating General Winfield Scott, who later lost to Franklin Pierce, according to History.com. But in 1856, Fillmore ran again after the Know-Nothing Party nominated him. He didn’t win the general election and then retired from politics.
Martin Van Buren, the eighth president of the United States, lost reelection in 1840 and ran again on the Free Soil party ticket in 1848. He was also unsuccessful.
This story was originally published December 2, 2020 at 2:42 PM with the headline "Can Trump run again after leaving the White House? Yes, and others have done it."
