ISTANBUL

Steve Bannon, a former aide to US President Donald Trump, said Trump will return to the White House for a third term in 2028, insisting the country needs him.

"He's gonna get a third term," Bannon said in an interview with The Economist published Thursday. "Trump is gonna be president in '28, and people just sort of (need to) get accommodated with that."

Asked about the 22nd Amendment of the US Constitution limiting presidents to two elected terms, Bannon said a plan exists, adding that details will be revealed at the appropriate time.

Bannon described Trump as an “instrument of divine will,” saying it is the "will of the American people" for him to serve another term and that the president is needed for at least one more term in 2028.

“We had longer odds in 2016 and longer odds in 2024 than we've got in 2028. We have to finish what we started,” he added.

He questioned whether the 22nd Amendment definitively bars Trump from running again.

“If the American people, with the mechanisms we have, put Trump back in office, are the American people tearing up the Constitution?” he said.

The 22nd Amendment specifies that a person cannot be elected to the presidency more than twice, whether the terms are consecutive or not. Trump is currently serving his second term, leaving some of his allies to suggest that a path to a third stint in office could be secured via succession rather than an election.