Rand Paul Says He Opposes Banning Lawmakers From Trading Stocks Because Trump Might Run For a Third Term

Republican Sen. Rand Paul said he opposes a bill that would ban lawmakers from trading stocks because it might discourage President Donald Trump from running for a third term, a decision that would require a constitutional reform.

Speaking on Fox Business, Paul said he believes the bill would "discourage successful people from holding office." "Part of the bill would forbid the president immediately from buying and selling stocks and would exempt him from the divestiture part."

"Future presidents wouldn't be allowed to own things. So if Donald Trump were the next president, some say he might run for a third term, he would be forced to divest everything. He would have to sell all his possessions. He has a complicated financial empire. A lot of people wouldn't want to sell or get involved, you also don't want to sell during a downturn. There are a lot of reasons to discourage successful people" from running for office, Paul added.

Trump heavily criticized Josh Hawley, the only Republican senator to support the bill, even though he is one of his most fervent supporters in general. "Why would one 'Republican,' Senator Josh Hawley from the Great State of Missouri, join with all of the Democrats to block a Review, sponsored by Senator Rick Scott, and with the support of almost all other Republicans, of Nancy Pelosi's Stock Trading over the last 25 years," Trump said in a post in his social media platform, Truth Social.

"The Democrats, because of our tremendous ACHIEVEMENTS and SUCCESS, have been trying to 'Target' me for a long period of time, and they're using Josh Hawley, who I got elected TWICE, as a pawn to help them," he added.

Trump did not mention the possibility of running for a third term in the post. And while the topic made headlines earlier during his presidency, they mostly faded after he said in May he's not looking to do so.

Speaking to NBC, Trump said he knows can't run in the next presidential election: "It's something that, to the best of my knowledge, you're not allowed to do. I don't know if that's constitutional," he said.

"This is not something I'm looking to do. I'm looking to have four great years and turn it over to somebody — ideally, a great Republican, a great Republican to carry it forward," Trump said.

Some allies, however, openly discussed their intention to find a way to allow Trump to run in 2028. Former White House strategist Steve Bannon said in May that he was working on "five or six different alternatives" to that end.

"Quite frankly, I think four or five are going to work. I continue to say, as I told Bill Maher, on the afternoon of January 20th, 2029, Donald Trump is going to be president for his third term," Bannon added.