American political figure and commentator Lara Trump said on Saturday that her father-in-law will not seek a third term as US President unless the constitution is amended to allow it.
Ms Trump, who co-chaired the Republican National Committee in 2024, dismissed speculation that Donald Trump may seek to run again despite the clear limit of two terms, which he will have served.
Speaking in Dubai on Saturday, she said Mr Trump would not run again “unless there is some new law that the Congress votes upon and says that a president can serve three terms in office”. She went on to say that “there will be plenty over the next three years that this president accomplishes … he will have no problem saying, as much as he likes to joke about it, 2028 – that'll be it for him”.
Ms Trump was speaking on stage at the 1 Billion Followers Summit, which concludes on Sunday. She said: “I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to do the things that I do and to have the access that I have. And I know it won't be forever, despite what some will say with the 'Trump 2028' hats, it will not be forever that Donald Trump is President of the United States”.
Ms Trump, who is married to the US President's son Eric, has a large social media following and a show and podcast on Fox News. She acknowledged that there is much polarisation that has been in part fuelled by the media.
“I think you have to be straightforward with the fact that you are human being, and you do have the opinions … it's very disingenuous when you have a lot of television hosts or writers, journalists who try to present themselves as just a straight down the middle person. We all have our opinions, and I think you should be forward with those.”
She warned against echo chambers, saying: “You need to know what everyone is saying, you cannot exist in an echo chamber and think that you're going to be successful on anything that you're doing”. She acknowledged that “I do think that we would all be better served, especially in the US to tune in to what somebody else might have to say who we know doesn't agree with us”.
She also expressed a willingness to hear other views. “What we often forget is, in this polarising era, we all have more in common than we do different. And we've kind of been told like we are so different – there's nothing that unites us. There's so much more I see in the entire world that unites us than divides us, and I think especially in the US, you have to start from a place that has nothing to do with politics.”
A big issue that has polarised opinions in the US is the Trump administration’s measures to deport undocumented migrants and those accused of crimes. After an American immigration agent fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis last Wednesday, Ms Trump said: “I think the conversation around it has been as expected, people who lean to the right have viewed it one way, people who lean to the left have viewed it another way”. As to what should happen to the immigration officer, Ms Trump said: “Ultimately, it will be up to authorities, whether or not anyone should be charged in this incident.”
However, she did put some blame on the woman who died, saying: “It's a shame that we've come to a place where you have people who've been incentivised to interfere in a law enforcement operation. The laws of the land of the United States are decided upon by the US Congress, and instead of taking it up with Congress to change those laws, there are a lot of people in leadership positions, whether in the government or whether on television, you know, journalists et cetera who would rather Americans get out and unfortunately involve themselves in something that can become dangerous for all parties”.
She added: “It's really sad that we have found ourselves in an incident, but unfortunately, not surprising, because you almost feel like there's been a build-up to something like this.”
Despite Republicans in general, and the Trump administration particularly, not being advocates of regulation, Ms Trump said she believes there should be more regulation of the use of AI that can be harmful, including depicting children in illicit ways. She also voiced concern over the influence of AI and misinformation on this year’s American midterm elections in November.
“I do think there needs to be, in my opinion, some sort of regulation on it. I would also argue that for social media as well,” she said, citing recent legislation in Australia and France.
Ms Trump made a point to speak about the charm of Dubai, calling it “an amazing place”. She said: “This is sort of the bridge to bring westerners to the Middle East” and added: “Here in Dubai is what we're going to see in the future, spread out around the rest of the Middle East”.
