Is there a way Donald trump can be president again
Executive summary
Yes — multiple constitutional and political routes could return Donald Trump to the presidency, and in fact reporting in these sources shows he already won back the White House in 2024; legal challenges over eligibility under the Fourteenth Amendment were raised and litigated, but the U.S. Supreme Court curtailed state-level disqualification efforts [1] [2] [3].
1. The plain electoral path: win the nomination, win the election
The simplest and most direct way for any candidate to become president is to secure a major party’s nomination and win the general election, which is what the record shows Trump did in 2024 — he captured the Republican nomination and won the presidency in the 2024 contest [1] [4].
2. The 14th Amendment fight: a legal obstacle that courts resolved in Trump's favor on ballot access
After January 6, 2021, scholars argued Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment could disqualify officials who “engaged in insurrection,” generating state-level challenges that led some courts to remove Trump from primary ballots, but the Supreme Court stepped in to limit states’ authority to apply that section to federal candidates, effectively keeping him on ballots nationwide [2] [3] [5].
3. The 22nd Amendment: barred from election after two terms, but edge cases remain
Constitutionally, the Twenty-second Amendment prevents anyone from being elected president more than twice, meaning a president who serves two full elected terms cannot be elected again, so after a hypothetical second completed term Trump would be ineligible to be elected a third time [6] [4]. Legal commentators note a theoretical gap — the amendment bars being “elected” more than twice but does not explicitly forbid becoming president by succession or appointment, a question scholars flag as unsettled and likely to require Supreme Court resolution if tested [7].
4. Alternate constitutional routes: succession, vice-presidency, and extraordinary scenarios
Academics have sketched remote, legally uncertain scenarios in which a two-term president could later serve again without being “elected” — for example by being chosen as a vice-presidential running mate who succeeds the president, or by other succession dynamics — but these are extraordinary, untested, and would almost certainly spawn immediate litigation and a Supreme Court decision [7].
5. Politics, public opinion and institutional power shape practical chances
Beyond legal technicalities, practical politics matter: Trump’s electoral viability depends on nomination dynamics, voter preferences, and institutional support; commentators tracked approval ratings and policy initiatives that affect political fortunes, and Project 2025 and administration actions show how governing performance and elite backing influence whether a return is politically feasible even when constitutionally possible [8] [9] [10].
6. Competing views and hidden agendas in the debate
Prominent conservative and liberal scholars alike argued the Fourteenth Amendment applies to January 6 participants, a line advanced by William Baude and Michael Stokes Paulsen and echoed by J. Michael Luttig and Laurence Tribe — but state officials, political operatives, and the Supreme Court pushed back on state enforcement, revealing partisan and institutional incentives: advocacy groups want disqualification as a check on anti-democratic acts while party actors and courts raised federalism and procedural concerns about who may enforce disqualification [2] [11] [3].
7. Bottom line: can he be president again?
Yes — the straightforward route is winning another election, which the sources show he already did in 2024; longer-term constraints exist because the Twenty-second Amendment bars being elected more than twice, and narrow legal questions about non-electoral returns to the presidency remain unsettled and would produce immediate, high-stakes litigation if tested [1] [6] [7].