Donald Trump said in an interview released on Sunday that he will not seek reelection in 2028 if he loses this year’s presidential election.
The former US president, who ran for president in 2016 and 2020, was asked in an interview with Sharyl Atkisson on Full Major TV whether he plans to run again in four years’ time.
“No, I don’t think so,” Trump responded. “I don’t think so at all.”
He said: “Hopefully, we’ll be successful.”
Kamala Harris is leading Trump in most head-to-head polls. Trump had a solid lead over Joe Biden until his disastrous debate performance derailed his reelection campaign. But the race remains close ahead of the November election, especially in key battleground states that could determine victory.
Atkisson asked Trump what positions he thought tech billionaire Elon Musk, former Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard and former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would take in his administration. Trump said he wasn’t making deals with anyone because “it wouldn’t be appropriate” and it was “premature.”
Still, he did highlight some of the things Musk, Gabbard and Kennedy – all former Democrats or Democrats – might address if he were elected.
“Bobby is going to do a great job on the health and environmental front,” he said. “He looks at other countries that don’t use chemicals, that use a lot less than we do, and they’re healthier than the United States, which is not a very healthy country.”
Kennedy has been campaigning for Trump since abandoning his own independent presidential bid to support the Republican candidate.
President Trump described Gabbard, a military veteran who served as a Democratic congressman from Hawaii before retiring, as a “good person.” Gabbard recently said she was “honored to serve” in Trump’s second administration. Gabbard ran for president as a Democrat in 2020 but chose to support the Republican candidate in this year’s election.
In an interview with Fox News, Gabbard said she was seeking a foreign policy role.
“I knew her a little bit, and it was a great honor to have her here,” Trump said in an interview Sunday.
Last month, both Gabbard and Kennedy were appointed to Trump’s transition team, which will help him make policy and personnel choices if he wins the White House in November.
Trump has praised Musk as someone who can push for cost-saving policies in the federal government, an idea he has championed with his government efficiency committee.
“Elon being Elon,” he said, “he’s great at cutting costs. He’s always been good at that, and I’m good at that. But Elon will say, ‘Here’s what you need to do. You need to do this.’ He’s obsessed with it, and he feels there’s too much waste and leanness in this country, and he’s right.”
