Back in time: California confronts Trump’s third-term talk

Could President Donald Trump be setting himself up to do what Franklin D. Roosevelt did in 1941, by serving a third term as president? While some folks pay little mind to Trump’s occasional hints of staying in office longer, California Sen. Tom Umberg isn’t leaving it to chance.

The 22nd Amendment, added to the United States Constitution in 1951, states that no person shall be elected to the office of the president more than twice. Until recently, it seemed that Americans were in unanimous agreement that this rule was in the best interest of Americans and democracy as a whole. However, in late 2025 Trump constituents began selling t-shirts bearing the words, “Trump 2028 (Rewrite the Rules).” 

Since Trump took office for his second term a little over a year ago, he’s hinted at and sometimes explicitly talked about an additional term in office. Trump told reporters in a press conference last fall that a third term would really be his fourth term because of what he called—without evidence—“the rigged election.” On Jan. 28, the FBI released a statement saying it executed a warrant at the Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center in Union City while investigating President Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was rigged. 

Just over a year into Trump’s second term in office, Americans on both sides of the political aisle are dissatisfied with the slow-to-be-released, heavily redacted Epstein files. The National Rifle Association joined ICE protesters across the country in denouncing the killing of Alex Pretti. The United States is trending downwards in global popularity in response to tariffs, bombing campaigns, the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the seizing of oil, the proposed real estate project in Gaza and more recent actions. 

So why in the midst of this political moment is Trump still ruminating on the outcome of the 2020 election? Is it because he seeks what he perceives as retroactive justice for an election he believes he won? Or could he be searching for justification to stay in office longer by running for a third term? 

Just in case the latter is true, Sen. Umberg said in a phone interview that he put forth “no kings” legislation to safeguard the election process in California. Senate Bill 46 enables the California secretary of state to exclude presidential candidates from the ballot if they are ineligible to hold office, according to the constitution. In other words, if Trump sought a third term as president, Trump’s name wouldn’t appear on California’s ballot. 

“Most of us think that the Constitution is quite clear on that point, but there’s at least one person who thinks they should be able to serve a third term,” Umberg said. “Thus we need this bill to make it absolutely crystal clear that in California, if you serve two terms as president, you cannot appear on the ballot to serve a third term.”

While SB 46 would apply only to California, Umberg suspects that colleagues in other states may follow suit with similar measures to safeguard the election. Some of Umberg’s GOP colleagues have suggested that measure is unnecessary or even redundant given the existence of the 22nd Amendment. 

“What they’re saying is that we shouldn’t take the president at his word,” Umberg said. “I do take the president seriously. When he says, for example, that people born in the United States aren’t necessarily citizens and he tries to have them removed from the country—it turns out he wasn’t kidding.” 

Terri Jett, a political scientist, scholar and activist from Richmond, prides herself on making politics accessible to people of all ages with her PBS Simple Civics three-minute video series. Jett says that in an ideal world, we wouldn’t need SB 46 because of how clear-cut and simple it is in the Constitution. However, she says that at this political moment a safeguard might be necessary.

“Our checks and balances system is not working properly,” Jett said. “The rule of law actually also is not working properly.” 

Given the current makeup of the Supreme Court, Jett said little would surprise her. And if SB 46 safeguards the election, she’s all for it.

“Regardless of the person … we do not want a monarchy in place, and we want to be able to change our representatives, even though we don’t do it to the extent that I wish we would,” Jett said. “We need to take whatever measure we can to add some guardrails to ensure that our constitutional protections are still in place and still effective.”

Nick, an enlisted member of the United States military who is rooted in the East Bay but is currently on assignment out of state, declined to share his last name. Nick said that just because there is one incident in American history when a Democrat served three terms, SB 46 shouldn’t go into effect just yet. 

“I think since FDR had the chance to serve more than two terms,” Nick said, “wouldn’t it be fair to let a Republican do it once to even the playing field? Then the parties can truly agree to eliminate any names from candidates seeking a third term.”

President Roosevelt is in fact the only president in U.S. history to have served more than two terms. Roosevelt began his third term in 1941 when he defeated Republican Nominee Wendell Willkie, which coincided with the timing of World War II. Roosevelt served a short time into what would have been his fourth term when he died on April 12, 1945.

Ironically many have noted similarities between Trump’s deportation policies and Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066 which incarcerated 120,000 Japanese Americans in internment camps.

Although Nick said he recognizes that federal law caps the presidency at two terms, he is tired of California’s “self-declared exceptions.”

“Califoria regularly flouts federal law,” Nick said. “Why wouldn’t it be fair for red states to similarly declare an exception, should their voters desire it?”  

SB 46 would only apply to California and has no bearing on Senate bills that other states might elect to implement. 

Veronica F. declined to share her last name or her city of residence, but said she refuses to accept that traveling back in time to the Roosevelt era is in anyone’s best interest. 

“My grandmother, who is still alive, was a toddler when she was taken to a Japanese internment camp,” she said. “She described to me men who were not in uniform who were driving unmarked cars and took her and her family when she was a child. Now, we’re seeing the same thing happen across the country today. Children, families, people who’ve lived here their whole lives, people who want peace of mind being taken violently.

“I can’t sit by and do nothing,” she added. “Too many people did that when my grandma was interned, and I’m not doing that today.”

Nadia Nouri is a county council member of the Santa Clara County Green Party and a longtime resident of Silicon Valley who migrated to the U.S. from Iran some 48 years ago. She says she has no desire to live in an oligarchy or a dictatorship.

“We need to put more term limits on people in power,” she said. “Some are dying in their seats.” Nouri believes the longer people serve, the more apt they are to be affected by corruption and cognitive decline.

“I had elderly parents,” she continued. “There’s nothing bad about being elderly, but as we get older, our brains don’t work like they once did. At a certain point, we need rest and retirement.”

President Trump turns 80 in June, which Nouri said is not an ideal age for leading a country. She also discussed a noteworthy disconnect between what the Trump administration is telling Iranians to do—protest—and how it’s responding to Americans who do the same thing. At the same time, she says there are also undeniable parallels. 

“What the Trump administration is doing through ICE is very similar to what the Iranian regime does on the streets,” Nouri said. “They come and take the demonstrators away and disappear them. What’s the difference?”

Monica Uribe and her partner, Angel Sandoval, reside in Santa Clara and have been on Bay Area streets protesting nearly every weekend since Trump took office last January.

“I would definitely support any measure that stops Trump from being in office for a third term,” Uribe said. “Or anybody serving as president. We, as Americans, want to be able to choose and vote every time—because the people in this country get the last say.”

Uribe said it feels like the sitting government of the United States is being run as a dictatorship.

“Trump wants to get away with it, but we’re here to stop it,” he said. “Thankfully a lot of the courts are siding with us, and we’re winning a lot of the battles.”