Trump mocks media saying he won't leave presidency even after eight years: 'Make it 12 years and you'll drive them crazy'
President Donald Trump, on Monday, again suggested that he might not leave the office even if he finishes his possible second term as president or loses the 2020 election.
Trump, during a speech to the Israeli-American Council [IAC] National Summit in Florida, said that Israel "has never had a better friend in the White House" than under his presidency.
He also recounted the details of the US embassy shift from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move that created controversy and sparked outrage from Palestinians.
He also talked about the cost and planning that went into finalizing the embassy building and appeared to suggest that a future president might not be as sympathetic to the idea of the embassy and it may take "10 years" to build the structure.
Trump then digressed and went on to talk about the length of his own presidency, Newsweek reported.
"Don't forget, at some point, whether it's five years from now, nine years from now, 13 years from now—I'm doing this to drive the media crazy," he said in comments tweeted by Vox journalist Aaron Rupar. "Because a lot of them say, 'You know he's not leaving, don't you?'"
"These people are so stupid. One of them said, 'You know he's going to win, don't you, and you know at the end of his second term, you know he's not leaving. He's not leaving, you know that'," the president continued. "I thought he was kidding, he's for real. So now we have to start thinking about that because it's not a bad idea," he said to cheers from the crowd.
"When they all scream 'four more years! Four more years!' I always say, 'make it 12 years and you'll drive them crazy'," he said, referring to the media. "If I don't get the building built, it's never going to get built," he said.
The president's swipe came amid speculations about whether Trump would readily leave the White House if he loses the 2020 poll or after serving two terms. The president, in September, had hinted at an impossible and unconstitutional third presidential term during a North Carolina rally.
"I announced today that we've got the soccer world cup. That's a big thing. Who else is going to do it? We've got a problem. It's in 2026," Trump had said at the rally. "I said, well, wait a minute. Under the normal rules, I'll be out in 2024. So we may have to go for an extra term."
"Tomorrow, you're going to see headlines, 'Trump wants another term'," he said.