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

The 22nd Amendment, which was 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 Nicholas Maduro, the seizing of oil, the proposed real estate project in Gaza, and the list goes on. 

So why in the midst of this political moment is Trump still ruminating on the outcome of the 2020 election? Is it because Trump is seeking what he perceives as retroactive justice for an election that 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, Senator Umberg says 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 SB46 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 the 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.” 

Read more here: Metro Silicon Valley