Donald Trump admitted on Wednesday that he was not "allowed" to run for a third term as President of the United States, the latest hint at a prospect that delights his supporters as much as it frightens his opponents.

"I'm at my highest level in the polls. And you know, from what I've read, I believe I'm not allowed to run. So we'll see what happens (...). It's a shame," the American leader said aboard his Air Force One plane, bound for South Korea.

The 22nd Amendment to the United States Constitution, adopted in 1947, stipulates that "no person may be elected more than twice to the office of President".

Mr. Trump, who was already head of state from 2017 to 2021 and who began a second term on January 20, has often mentioned, since his return to the White House, the possibility of retaining his functions beyond 2029.

He refrains from openly rejecting calls to that effect from his supporters and sometimes displays red caps bearing the inscription "Trump 2028", the year of the next presidential election.

One of the popular theories in the Trump camp is that the 79-year-old president will run for vice president in three years, and that the current vice president, JD Vance, will run for president.

But Donald Trump dismissed that option on Monday. "I would have the right to do it," but "I wouldn't," he promised, arguing that it would be "playing smart" and "wouldn't be right." But, he insisted, "we have many great people" for the highest positions.

Within his camp, the idea has resurfaced in recent days.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday at a Capitol press conference that he had discussed a third term with Mr. Trump, admitting that he "did not see a way for it."

"We're driving the left crazy"

"It has been a great adventure, but I think the president is aware of (...) the constraints of the Constitution," the parliamentarian said.

"I don't see a way to amend the Constitution because it takes about 10 years," he estimated: "It would take two-thirds of Congress and three-quarters of the states to ratify it."

But last week, Steve Bannon, one of the key ideologues of the MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement, mentioned the existence of a plan to keep the Republican official in power.

"There are many alternatives" to the 22nd Amendment, this former advisor to Mr. Trump asserted. According to him, Mr. Trump "will be president in 2028; people need to accept that." And "there is a strategy" to achieve this, which will be unveiled "in due course," he added.

Never one to shy away from provocation, the president himself blows hot and cold on the issue. In May, he openly raised the possibility in front of American military personnel at the al-Udeid base in Qatar.

Asserting, as usual, that it was indeed he, and not the Democrat Joe Biden, who had actually won the 2020 election, he declared: "We've won three elections, okay? And some people want us to have a fourth, I don't know. We have to think about that."

Ten days earlier, when questioned about another matter, he had indicated that he did not know whether he should respect the Constitution, the supreme legal norm of the United States, scandalizing legal experts and political opponents.

Referring to his online store which offers red caps and t-shirts bearing the inscription "Trump 2028", he had mocked the opposition, which accuses him of playing with the rule of law.

"Have you seen the new cap? The trendiest cap says +Trump 2028+, we're driving the left crazy," he said.