United States President Donald Trump refused to rule out a bid for a third presidential term on Monday, despite the US Constitution limiting presidents to two terms of four years each. He is currently serving his second term.

“I would love to do it,” Trump, 79, told reporters on board Air Force One en route to Japan during his weeklong tour of Asia. “I have my best numbers ever.”

Monday’s indication from Trump, the oldest US president ever to take office, was perhaps the clearest yet among his repeated claims that he might run again for office in 2028 – when he would be more than 82.

Trump already has a $50 baseball cap on sale, emblazoned with the slogan “Trump 2028”. The president pointed out a hat with the words “four more years” – on display in the White House gift shop, alongside other Trump 2028 hats – to European leaders Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Emmanuel Macron as they toured the presidential residence in Washington, DC, in August.

So, how serious might Trump actually be about running in 2028? And can he find a way to do it?

After leaving the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Malaysia on Monday, Trump was on board Air Force One when reporters asked questions about the prospect of a 2028 presidential bid.

“Am I not ruling it out? You’ll have to tell me,” Trump said after reporters pressed him on the matter. “All I can tell you is that we have a great, a great group of people, which they don’t,” he replied, referring to the Democratic Party.

When confronted with the question of whether he was willing to take the fight for another presidential bid to the courts, Trump responded: “I haven’t really thought about it.

“We have some very good people, as you know, but I’ve had, I have the best poll numbers I’ve ever had,” Trump repeated.

Trump also pondered who might make good Republican candidates for the 2028 presidential contest and named people from his own administration.