Donald Trump has said he does not think he will run for president again in 2028 if he loses this year’s US election.
Mr Trump, who was US president between January 2017 and January 2021, is running for a third time after he lost the last election in 2020 to Joe Biden.
He is currently trailing this year’s Democratic nominee, Kamala Harris, by five percentage points in a poll by Sky News’ US partner network NBC News. Ms Harris has an average lead of around 3.6 points nationwide.
Asked on the US news show Full Measure whether he will run again if he loses, Mr Trump said: “No, I don’t… I think that will be, that will be it.”
The former president would be 82 in 2028, a year older than President Biden is now.
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The answer was notable both because Mr Trump seemed to rule out a fourth bid for the White House and because he rarely admits the possibility he could legitimately lose an election.
Mr Trump normally insists that could only happen if there were widespread cheating, a false allegation he made in 2020 and he has pre-emptively made again during his 2024 presidential campaign.
Mr Biden bowed out of the race in July following his disastrous debate performance and months of being hammered by Mr Trump and other conservatives as being too old and erratic for the job.
President Biden endorsed his vice president after dropping out of the 2024 presidential race. Pic: AP
Also during the 22-minute interview, Mr Trump defended his record on the coronavirus pandemic.
He took credit for the development of the COVID-19 vaccines developed during his presidency while also saying “they’re doing studies on the vaccines and we’re going to find out” if they are safe.
Mr Trump said Republicans have become sceptical about the vaccines even as Democrats trust them.
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On Saturday, the former president had rejected the idea of having a second debate with Ms Harris.
“The problem with another debate is that it is just too late. Voting has already started,” he told a crowd in North Carolina.
Kamala Harris campaigning in Wisconsin. Pic: Reuters
Ms Harris had earlier agreed to the proposed match-up which would be broadcast on CNN on 23 October.
She was widely credited as performing better than Mr Trump in a debate earlier this month.
The US election takes place on 5 November.