French president says he doesn't ‘exclude anything' on possible comeback after term-limited departure

French President Emmanuel Macron has left open the possibility of returning to the presidency after he bows out next year due to term limits, saying he “doesn’t exclude anything” when asked about a possible third presidential mandate.

“Let’s be clear: under our Constitution, you are entitled to two consecutive terms. So I will finish my term next May, and the French people will elect somebody else,” Macron said in an interview with US magazine Variety.

“But I don’t exclude anything. It’s quite unusual to come back, but we will see. Life is inventive, sometimes more than movies,” he added.

The interview was recorded on Sept. 7 during the Lumiere Summit in Saint-Paul-de-Vence in southern France before its release on Friday.

France’s Constitution bars a president from serving more than two consecutive terms.

Macron was first elected in 2017 and reelected in 2022, meaning he cannot seek a third consecutive term in 2027.

Macron will be 49 when he retires next year, and as the French presidency lasts five years, if he chose to seek another term he would be in his mid-50s, relatively young by political standards.

Charles de Gaulle retired from the presidency in 1969, at the age of 78, and died age 79.

The remarks are a reversal from Macron’s comments this April, when he said: “I did not do politics before (the presidency) and I will not do it after.”