President Donald Trump said Monday he would “love” to run against former President Barack Obama when asked about a hypothetical matchup. Though the Constitution prevents a third term in office, Trump did not rule out seeking one when asked by NBC on Sunday.
“A lot of people want me to do it,” Trump told NBC. He later told reporters on Air Force One, “I don’t want to talk about a third term right now … No matter how you look at it, we got a long time to go.”
Meanwhile, tariffs on imported autos are to go into effect on Wednesday. While economists predict Trump’s tariffs will raise prices in the U.S., Trump told reporters Sunday that automakers “are going to make a lot of money,” suggesting the measures would encourage companies “to build in the United States.”
Latest Developments
Mar 31, 7:56 PM
Trump says Musk will be back after he leaves White House
Asked if he wanted to keep Elon Musk in the White House after his 130-day term as a special government employee expires, Trump said Musk would return at some point.
“Well, I think he’s an amazing. But I also think he’s got a big company to run. And so, at some point he’s going to be going back. He wants to,” Trump said.
PHOTO: Elon Musk looks on during a Cabinet Meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House Mar, 24, 2025 in Washington. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)
“Oh, I’d keep him as long as I can keep him. He’s a very talented guy. You know, I love very smart people. He’s very smart, and he’s done a good job,” Trump said, pointing to the “400 billion, 500 billion” that the Department of Government Efficiency has saved the government.
DOGE’s website currently puts the savings at $140 billion, though largely without receipts.
Mar 31, 7:53 PM
Trump offers no new details on tariffs
When asked about what Wednesday’s sweeping tariffs set to go into effect on Wednesday would look like, Trump said that Americans would “see in two days.”
Though Trump was light on specifics, he seemed to indicate that the tariffs might be lower than those imposed by other countries on the U.S.
“So, whatever they charge us, we charge them. But we’re being nicer than they were,” he said. “We have a lot of countries, friend and foe. I always say friend and foe, but the friend in many cases is worse than the foe. They took advantage of us. And, we are going to be very nice by comparison to what they were. The numbers will be lower than what they’ve been charging us, and in some cases, maybe substantially lower.”
PHOTO: President Donald Trump boards Air Force One as he departs for Florida, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, March 28, 2025. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
When asked whether any countries might be exempt from the reciprocal tariffs, Trump said “it depends,” and seemed to indicate he wouldn’t target countries that had smaller trade deficits with the U.S.
Asked by ABC News’ Karen Travers if he’s heard any concerns from automakers about the pending tariffs, especially after a meeting today with the chairman of Stellantis, Trump said no.
“Well, I gave them a big break for a month. I didn’t charge them anything, you know, for a big month, for that first month, and they brought a lot of material into this country, because they could bring it in with that tariff,” Trump said.
Travers also pressed Trump on news that China, South Korea and Japan are working together to respond to U.S. tariffs, asking if he was concerned that the tariffs would push allies closer to China. Trump said he was not aware of that news, but did brush off the concerns.
-ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart
Mar 31, 6:28 PM
Trump says he would ‘love’ to run against Obama in 2028
Despite the constitutional two-term limit, Trump mused about running against former President Barack Obama in the 2028 presidential election.“Boy, I’d love that — that would be a good one,” Trump said Monday
Trump has often mused, and even joked, about seeking a third term. On Sunday, he told NBC News’ Kristen Welker, “I’m not joking,” about a third term.
PHOTO: President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House, March 31, 2025. Former President Barack Obama speaks at a campaign rally in Madison, Wis., Oct. 22, 2024. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images | Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images)
On Monday, he downplayed a third term.
“No, people are asking me to run, and there’s a whole story about running for a third term. I don’t know, I never looked into it. They do say there is a way you can do it, but I don’t know about that. But I have not looked
into it.”
Mar 31, 6:40 PM
Kid Rock joins Trump in Oval Office for ticket-scalping executive order
Kid Rock was in the White House with Trump as he signed an executive order that charges the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department with cracking down on the ticket reselling industry.
“It’s gotten worse and worse with time, and I didn’t know too much about it, but I checked it out and it was a big problem,” Trump said, with Kid Rock standing alongside his desk. “And I thought, I think you’ve been trying to get this done for 20 years or something. He said, ‘Trump got it done in two weeks.’”
PHOTO: President Donald Trump signs an executive order alongside Kid Rock in the Oval Office of the White House, March 31, 2025. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
Mar 31, 5:47 PM
Trump meets with Stellantis chair ahead of auto tariffs going into effect
Trump met Monday at the White House with the chairman of one of the Big 3 automakers just days before he is expected to impose 25% tariffs on all imported cars and auto parts.
John Elkann, the chairman of Stellantis, met with Trump, according to sources familiar with the meeting. One source, without offering additional details or specifics, told ABC News that automakers appear to be “coming to the table.”
Stellantis declined to comment on whether Elkann had a meeting with Trump.
PHOTO: President Donald Trump walks from the Oval Office to board Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House en route to Florida, March 28, 2025, in Washington. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)
On an investor and analyst call last week, Elkann expressed concern over how the auto tariffs would impact the price of cars.
“(It) made a very clear statement about the dialogue ongoing with the Trump administration, and the importance of the competitiveness of the integrated North American automotive sector,” Elkann said. “But more importantly, the concern on the affordability of our products, our products made in America, and the implications on demand, on what will this uncertainty mean for demand in the United States of America.”
Trump told NBC on Sunday that he “couldn’t care less” if prices on foreign cars go up, because he says that Americans will reap the benefits of more production and more jobs in the United States.
-ABC News’ Katherine Faulders and Mary Bruce
Mar 31, 4:37 PM
Transgender Day of Visibility rally being held in Washington
A rally is being held in front of the U.S. Capitol on Monday to commemorate Transgender Day of Visibility.
It is being led by the Christopher Street Project, in coordination with more than 20 members of Congress and a dozen advocacy organizations.
PHOTO: People attend a Trans Day of Visibility rally in Washington, D.C., March 31, 2025. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)
Rep. Summer Lee, a Pennsylvania Democrat, slammed the Trump administration’s policies she said sows “fear” within the community. “We will not let them demonize this community,” House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark said from the podium.
The Trump administration’s taken action to try to restrict gender-affirming care for people under the age of 19, ban transgender people from military service and require the government to only recognize a person’s sex assigned at birth on government-issued documents. Many of the moves have been challenged in court.
Mar 31, 2:27 PM
White House downplays Trump not ruling out possibly seeking a 3rd term
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also downplayed President Donald Trump not ruling out the possibility of running for a third term after he told NBC News on Sunday that he was “not joking” about it.
Asked about what methods the president was looking at to possibly run for a third time, Leavitt dismissed the question.
“The president talked about this last night on the plane. He said it’s not really something we’re thinking about. He has four years. There’s a lot of work to do,” she said.
PHOTO: White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks with reporters in the driveway of the West Wing of the White House in Washington, DC, March 31, 2025. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
Trump told NBC News on Sunday morning “there are methods which you could do it” regarding possibly seeking a third term. Later Sunday night, Trump avoided several questions about his comments as he spoke with reporters on Air Force One.
“I don’t even want to talk about it, I’m just telling you I have had more people say, please run again,” Trump said. “I said we have a long way to go before we even think about that.”
Legal scholars told ABC News the Constitution bars a third term. Read more here.
-ABC News’ Hannah Demissie, Michelle Stoddart and Molly Nagle
Mar 31, 2:25 PM
White House offers little clarity on upcoming tariffs
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt offered little clarity on the pending tariffs set to go into place on Wednesday — which it’s dubbed as “Liberation Day.”
Despite being pressed on the topic multiple times by reporters on Monday, Leavitt wouldn’t get into any details on the announcement, from which countries would be targeted or what rate they’d face. She instead deferred to President Donald Trump, saying, “It’s his announcement to make.”
PHOTO: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks with reporters at the White House, March 31, 2025, in Washington. (Evan Vucci/AP)
Asked by ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Mary Bruce if there’s any way for countries to stave off the pending tariffs and if the president has decided the scale and scope of them, Leavitt said that now is “the time for reciprocity.”
“Well, I think, first of all, unfortunately, these countries have been ripping off our country for far too long, and they’ve made, I think, their disdain for the American worker quite clear,” she said before listing levies from other nations.
-ABC News’ Hannah Demissie, Michelle Stoddart and Molly Nagle
Mar 31, 12:37 PM
Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy, trade negotiations: Poll
A new Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll (AP-NORC) published on Monday found that a majority of Americans (58%) disapprove of how President Donald Trump has been handling the economy, while they are about evenly split on Trump’s handling of immigration — two top issues in the 2024 campaign.
Amidst the back-and-forths about tariffs, 60% of Americans said they disapprove of how Trump is “handling trade negotiations with other countries,” and it is Trump’s weakest issue in the poll among Republicans.
Overall, Trump’s job approval rating is underwater: 56% of Americans disapprove while 42% approve.
PHOTO: President Donald Trump holds a signed executive order on cryptocurrencies, in the Oval Office of the White House, in Washington, U.S., January 23, 2025. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
-ABC News’ Oren Oppenheim
Mar 31, 11:00 AM
Elon Musk visiting the CIA to discuss government efficiency
Elon Musk is heading to the CIA on Monday to discuss efficiencies there amid the Department of Government Efficiency’s radical overhaul of the federal government. A CIA spokesman said Musk was invited by CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
PHOTO: Billionaire businessman Elon Musk speaks during a town hall meeting at the KI Convention Center on March 30, 2025 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
“Director Ratcliffe has invited Elon Musk to meet with him at the Agency to discuss government efficiency,” the spokesperson said.
Musk’s visit to the CIA follows his recent trips to the Pentagon and the National Security Agency.
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