Dershowitz says he told Trump US Constitution not clear on whether he can serve third term

Retired Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz told President Donald Trump the US Constitution is not clear about whether he could serve a third term, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Dershowitz tells the newspaper he had made the comment during a discussion with Trump on Tuesday about a draft copy of a book the lawyer had written on whether he could constitutionally serve a third term.

“I said ‘it’s not clear if a president can become a third term president and it’s not clear if it’s permissible,’” Dershowitz says.

The 22nd Amendment of the US Constitution states in part that “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.”

“He found it interesting as an intellectual issue,” adds Dershowitz, who defended Trump during his first impeachment trial. “Do I think he’s going to run for a third term? No, I don’t think he will run for a third term.”

The report comes after Republican megadonor Miriam Adelson, appearing alongside Trump at a White House Hanukkah event, said Dershowitz told her it would be legal for Trump to run for a third term, and pledged that she would donate $250 million to his campaign if the president chooses to run again, as the crowd chanted “four more years!”

Dershowitz confirms to the Wall Street Journal that he spoke with Adelson after meeting with Trump and showed her the draft of the book, which is titled, “Could President Trump Constitutionally Serve a Third Term?”

“Is this real? Oh, my God, I hope this can happen,” Dershowitz quotes Adelson as telling him in response, before her remarks at the reception later Tuesday.