US President Donald Trump said on Sunday he was not joking about seeking a third presidential term, which is barred by the US constitution, but that it was too early to think about doing so.
Trump, who took office on January 20 for his second, non-consecutive White House term, has made vague allusions to seeking a third one but addressed it directly on Sunday in a telephone interview with NBC News.
“No, I’m not joking. I’m not joking,” Trump said, but “it is far too early to think about it. There are, there are methods which you could do it, as you know,” he said.
Donald Trump says he is ‘pissed off’ at Russia’s Vladimir Putin
In the same interview, Trump also said he was “pissed off” at Russian President Vladimir Putin and will impose secondary tariffs of 25% to 50% on buyers of Russian oil if he feels Moscow is blocking his efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
Trump told NBC News he was angry after Putin last week criticized the credibility of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s leadership. “If Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia’s fault… I am going to put secondary tariffs on oil, on all oil coming out of Russia,” Trump said.
“That would be, that if you buy oil from Russia, you can’t do business in the United States,” Trump said. “There will be a 25% tariff on all oil, a 25- to 50-point tariff on all oil.”
There was no immediate reaction from Moscow. Russia has called numerous Western sanctions and restrictions “illegal” and designed for the West to take economic advantage in its rivalry with Russia.
Trump, who spent the weekend at his estate in Palm Beach, Florida, told NBC News he planned to speak with Putin this week. The two leaders have had two publicly announced telephone calls in recent months but may have had more contacts, the Kremlin said in video footage last week.
Putin on Friday suggested Ukraine could be placed under a form of temporary administration to allow for new elections that could push out Zelensky.
This article was originally published at www.jpost.com
