Trump news today: President claims ‘there are methods’ for him to seek third term in White House

Amid the fallout over the Signalgate group chat between national security officials that inadvertently included the editor of The Atlantic, a report has emerged that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth brought his wife to two meetings with foreign military officials.

The Wall Street Journal reports that sensitive information was discussed in both meetings, one with U.K. officials and another with NATO defense ministers, according to multiple people who were either present or had knowledge of the discussions.

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Alex Hannaford writes:

When Donald Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon said, “I’m a firm believer that President Trump will run and win again in 2028,” last week, it should have been a surprise, but it wasn’t. “We’re working on it. … We’ll see what the definition of term limit is”, the disheveled Bannon told NewsNation. It wasn’t the first time he had mentioned it either. The president’s adviser, who went to prison for refusing to testify before a congressional committee about the 6 January insurrection, suggested it in December. Then, he argued that Trump could circumvent the 22nd Amendment, which codifies the two-term limit because the word “consecutive” is not in the text of the document.

Trump has been making his feelings clear too.

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Reuters reports that working-class car buyers will be the most affected by President Donald Trump’s 25 percent tariff on imported vehicles, as nearly all low-cost new cars sold in the United States are manufactured abroad.

Lower-income buyers will face an additional setback from anticipated increases in used car prices due to rising demand and dwindling supply.

New cars priced under $30,000 are becoming increasingly rare as the average new vehicle price nears $50,000. Analysts say the only way automakers can secure profits on economy cars is by manufacturing them in countries with lower production costs.

Detroit automakers General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis have phased out most entry-level models in recent years to concentrate on highly profitable trucks and SUVs. This shift has nearly left the economy vehicle market entirely to Asian manufacturers.

A Reuters review of data from two auto research firms found only 16 models with an average sticker price below $30,000, and just one, Toyota's Corolla, is assembled in the United States. All others are manufactured in Mexico, South Korea, or Japan.

The under-$30,000 models built by Nissan, Mazda, Hyundai, Kia, Toyota, Subaru, and Volkswagen are almost all built in Mexico or South Korea, though Honda builds the Civic in Canada and the U.S.

Ford makes its least expensive models, the compact Maverick truck and mid-sized Bronco Sport, in Mexico. The same is true for Jeep's most affordable model, the Compass.

Three vehicles from GM priced under $ 30,000, the Buick Envista, Chevrolet Trax, and Trailblazer, are produced in South Korea.

Industry analysts noted that imposing a 25 percent tariff on these low-end cars could lead to price increases that make them unaffordable for their target market or cause some automakers to abandon them altogether.

The rising cost of new vehicles will then push buyers into the used-car market, also pushing up prices there.

Trump’s political base of rural supporters may be among those most affected by the import taxes. Approximately half of voters with household incomes below $50,000 annually supported Trump's 2024 election, according to an Edison Research exit poll.

The president told NBC News that he “couldn't care less” if automakers hike prices “because if the prices on foreign cars go up, they're going to buy American cars.”

Trump argues that tariffs will spark a boom in the U.S. auto industry. However, some experts contend that high import taxes may lead to the opposite effect, as people delay large purchases or reduce unnecessary spending in the face of higher prices of both new and used vehicles.

Despite being prohibited by the Constitution under the 22nd Amendment, President Donald Trump did not rule out the possibility of seeking a third term in the White House during an interview with NBC News.

Trump said that there were methods for doing so, even clarifying that he was “not joking” in his conversation with Kristen Welker.

“A lot of people want me to do it,” the president said, referring to his allies. “But, I mean, I basically tell them we have a long way to go, you know, it’s very early in the administration.”

“I’m focused on the current,” Trump added.

When asked whether he wanted another term, the president responded: “I like working.”

“I’m not joking,” Trump said when asked to clarify. “But I’m not — it is far too early to think about it.”

Asked how he might go about seeking a third term and whether he has been presented with plans to allow him to do so, the president replied: “There are methods [by] which you could do it.”

Welker asked about a possible scenario in which Vice President JD Vance ran for office and then passed the role to Trump.

The president responded, “That’s one” method, adding: “But there are others too.”

Asked to share another method, he responded: “No.”

Amending the Constitution to abolish the two-term limit would be exceedingly difficult, requiring either a two-thirds vote of Congress or two-thirds of the states agreeing to call a constitutional convention to propose changes. Either route would then require ratification from three-quarters of the states.

Trump maintains that “a lot of people would like me to” hold office for a third term.

These were his most extensive comments on the matter. Previous remarks have often been dismissed as jokes or the president trolling his critics and opponents.

Here’s our explainer on whether Trump can have a third term:

Kristen Welker of NBC News asked Jeffrey Goldberg, editor of The Atlantic, about the Trump administration’s protests that the information Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth posted in the Signal group chat was not classified.

Goldberg said on Meet the Press: “Well, let me answer it this way. When — when the texts are coming over as I'm watching them unfold, it's 11:44 a.m. on a Saturday. Pete Hegseth is promising that U.S. warplanes are taking off in 30 minutes to bomb enemy targets that we know are protected by anti-aircraft batteries. Okay, so if that's not the most sensitive information, the most secret information in the world, I simply don't know what the meaning of “classified” or “secret” or “top secret” is because American pilots were about to fly into possibly a deadly situation, and the secretary of defense is telling everyone on the group chat — which, by the way, included me — that these pilots were about to go into harm's way.

“Talking about them going after they come back is a different thing entirely, but letting that information out on a commercial messaging app seems very odd. So, I was sort of aghast when I'm — when I'm watching this unfold on my phone.”

Watch that moment here:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described Japan on Sunday as indispensable for addressing Chinese aggression and confirmed that the implementation of a plan to upgrade the U.S. military command in the country would get underway.

“We share a warrior ethos that defines our forces,” Hegseth told Japanese Defence Minister Gen Nakatani at a meeting in Tokyo. “Japan is our indispensable partner in deterring communist Chinese military aggression,” including across the Taiwan Strait, he said.

Calling Japan a “cornerstone of peace and security in the Indo-Pacific,” he stated that President Donald Trump's administration would continue to collaborate closely with its key Asian ally.

In July, then-President Joe Biden's administration announced a significant overhaul of the U.S. military command in Japan to enhance coordination with Tokyo's forces, as the two countries identified China as their “greatest strategic challenge.”

This change will place a combined operational commander in Japan, who will serve as a counterpart to the head of a joint operation command established by Japan's Self-Defense Forces last week.

With reporting from Reuters

Jeffrey Goldberg, editor at The Atlantic, spoke with Kristen Welker of NBC News on Meet the Press this morning about the reaction from the Trump administration to the Signalgate scandal in which he was accidentally included in a group chat about a strike on the Houthis in Yemen.

Asked about the explanation from National Security Adviser Mike Waltz regarding his inclusion in the Signal group chat, Goldberg said: “Well, this isn't the matrix. Phone numbers don't just get sucked into other phones. I don't know what he's talking about there. You know, very frequently in journalism, the most obvious explanation is the explanation. My phone number was in his phone because my phone number is in his phone. He’s telling everyone that he's never met me or spoken to me. That's simply not true. I understand why he's doing it. But you know, this has become a somewhat farcical situation. There's no, there's no subterfuge here. My number was in his phone. He mistakenly added me to the group chat. There we go.”

Watch that moment here:

A series of people – some of whom have never known life outside the United States – have been detained and deported amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration

Permanent residents in the U.S. have faced detention and deportation while tourists have been turned away under the new immigration regime taking shape under the Trump administration.

Immigration officials face accusations that they have targeted individuals because of their political opinions or because they have taken part in political activities, such as protests or demonstrations.

Gustaf Kilander takes a look at some of the people caught up in the Trump administration’s actions.

Saturday Night Live's cold open saw another blunder by top Trump administration figures as Pete Hegseth, JD Vance and Marco Rubio mistakenly added themselves to a high school girls' text chain.

Oscar-winning actress Mikey Madison appeared in the skit, messaging her friends about boys and other teenage concerns before being abruptly interrupted by Hegseth – played by Andrew Dismukes – who derailed the conversation.

Mike Bedigan watched the much-anticipated roast of the Trump national security team.

Peter Navarro, counselor to the president on trade: “Tariffs are tax cuts.”

Definition of a tariff: A tariff is a tax imposed by one country on the goods and services imported from another country.