California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has said he shares profound concern about the possibility of President Donald Trump clinging to power beyond the conclusion of his second term, even though the U.S. Constitution explicitly prohibits it.While the president told reporters Wednesday, “it’s pretty clear” the 22nd Amendment does not allow him to pursue another White House bid in 2028, both Trump and his allies have previously seemed eager to explore the possibility.Trump has been selling 2028 merchandise, and as recently as Monday, he hasn’t explicitly ruled out a third term.“I haven’t really thought about it. I have the best poll numbers I’ve ever had,” he said at the time, but added, “Am I not ruling it out? I mean, you’ll have to tell me.”In an interview with ABC’s Jonathan Karl set to be released in full on Wednesday, Newsom said there’s a method behind Trump’s third term talk.“I don’t think [Trump] takes himself seriously, but he iterates. He throws things out. And he plays with it, and he sees how people react, and it manifests. Meaning, once a mind is stretched, it never goes back to its original form. And that’s my concern,” Newsom told Karl.President Donald Trump (right) talks with California Gov. Gavin Newsom (left) after arriving on Air Force One at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, on Jan. 24, 2025.AP Photo/Mark SchiefelbeinNewsom also singled out Steve Bannon, a longtime Trump insider who recently told The Economist, “there’s a plan” for Trump to be president in 2028, as a potentially dangerous force fueling the president’s ambitions for power.“I’m deeply concerned about it, and guys like Bannon, they’re not screwing around,” Newsom told ABC News. “They’re not screwing around.”Newsom, who has been relentlessly slamming the president and his policies on social media, has admitted that he is mulling a 2028 presidential bid, confirming his ambitions extend beyond California as he is set to leave the governor’s mansion in Sacramento in January 2027 due to term limits.Close