Revealed: How Trump could be president until 2037 due to a simple loophole in the Constitution

It is noon in Washington on Saturday, January 20, 2029. Inauguration Day. A bearded man steps forward in front of the US Capitol and raises his right hand, placing his left on the Bible.

‘I, James David Vance, do solemnly swear…’

Moments later, with a knowing smile, the new President of the United States declares: ‘I resign.’

His running mate embraces him in a bear hug. The crowd of hundreds of thousands on the National Mall erupts in cheers of ‘Trump, Trump, Trump’ and ‘Four More Years.’

Donald Trump has become President for a third time.

This sounds like a conspiracy theory, or a MAGA flight of fancy. After all, as everyone with a passing knowledge of the Constitution knows, the 22nd Amendment limits presidents to two terms.

But could a scenario where Trump remains in the White House beyond that really happen? The surprising answer from experts is – yes.

In fact, the path for Trump to serve a third term – and potentially a fourth until January 2037 when he would be aged 90 – is not only possible, it is simple, thanks to a glaring loophole in the amendment.

Role swap? A plan involving JD Vance could allow Trump to serve a third term

The idea of exploiting this loophole has long been percolating in academic circles, behind the scenes in Congress and the White House, and recenlty among Trump’s most fervent supporters. 

Carrying it out would mot require an army of lawyers to perform arcane legal acrobatics with the Constitution.

Instead, the move would hinge merely on the interpretation of one word – ‘election’ – in the 22nd Amendment, and the loyalty of one man – Vance.

It would also require Trump to have enough popular support to win for a third term at the ballot box. 

The 22nd Amendment

The text of the full 22nd Amendment says the following:

‘No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.’

The Amendment was ratified in 1951 and was a direct response to Franklin Delano Roosevelt having been elected four times – on the third and fourth occasions during war time.

He was the only president to do so since the convention of only two terms was established by George Washington.

President Donald Trump shakes hands with Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts after he was sworn in during inauguration ceremonies in the Rotunda of the US Capitol on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC

The Loophole 

The loophole in the 22nd Amendment is set out in a 1999 Minnesota Law Review article co-authored by Professor Bruce Peabody and titled ‘The Twice and Future President’.

It outlines how the Amendment has been subject to ‘widespread misunderstanding,’ and concludes that the idea any twice-elected president is ‘constitutionally prohibited’ from serving again is ‘decidedly incorrect.’

According to the paper: ‘We contend that the Twenty-Second Amendment proscribes only the reelection of an already twice-elected President.’

The key phrase in the Amendment is – ‘No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice…’ 

It is argued that means a twice-elected president would not be barred from later reassuming the office due to the resignation, or death, of another president. 

Trump could therefore run for Vice President, with Vance as an openly recognized nominal figure at the top of the ticket. 

Once he is sworn in Vance could then resign, allowing his Vice President – Trump – to step into the office.

The same procedure could be used in multiple elections.

To win a fourth term Trump would simply have to resign the presidency before the 2032 election and become the running mate of a nominal presidential candidate, be that Vance or someone else.

Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump dance at the Liberty Ball, one of the events being held following US President Donald Trump’s inauguration in Washington, DC on January 20, 2025

The Supreme Court  

Opponents could challenge such a move in the courts, arguing it breaches the 22nd Amendment.

But Professor Peabody told DailyMail.com it would be ‘pretty hard’ for the Supreme Court to undo.

That would be especially so given the conservative makeup of the current court and its bent toward a textualist interpretation of the Constitution. 

Any decision would be likely to be based on the definition of the word ‘election’ rather than what the authors of the 22nd Amendment intended.

Also, if the plan was not clandestine but instead revealed openly to the electorate before the vote, it would be difficult to argue it was not democracy in action.

If people knew what they were voting for – ‘Vote Vance, Get Trump’ – it would be hard for opponents to argue in court that the spirit – let alone the letter – of the Constitution was being broken.

‘I think it’s one of those surprisingly straightforward scenarios,’ Professor Peabody said.

‘What seemed crazy a couple of decades ago now seems all too plausible.’

Indeed, Trump would not be the first president to look at the idea.

How other presidents viewed the 22nd Amendment

The Minnesota paper outlined how numerous presidents have been aware of the potential to serve a third term in this way.

Shortly after the 22nd Amendment was ratified President Eisenhower, said it did not seem ‘wholly wise,’ the report noted.

Eisenhower said the electorate ‘ought to be able to choose for its President anybody that it wants, regardless of the number of terms he has served.’

He even raised the possibility of running as Vice President in 1960, and then reassuming office for a third time himself.

‘The only thing I know about the presidency the next time is this: I can’t run,’ he said. ‘But someone has raised the question that were I invited, could I constitutionally run for Vice President.’

He later said the Justice Department had looked into it and concluded it would be ‘absolutely legal for me to do so.’

In the event, he did not.

President Dwight Eisenhower suggested a third term was possible

President Truman bemoaned that the 22nd Amendment made every second-term president a ‘lame duck.’

Later, President Reagan called the Amendment ‘ridiculous’ and suggested it ‘interfered with the democratic rights of the people’ to choose whoever they wanted.

The Minnesota paper notes that the final language of the ratified 22nd Amendment differed from earlier versions which closed off the possibility of a third term under any circumstances.

In the original formulation it was specified that anyone who was president ‘on 365 calendar days or more in each of two terms shall not be eligible to hold the office of President, or to act as President, for any part of another term.’

That was watered down perhaps – although it is speculation – to allow for the possibility of a twice-elected president to be called back to office in time of war or emergency.

But it leaves open the possibility of a third term for Trump. 

George Washington in a portrait painting by Constable-Hamilton, 1794 from the New York Public Library

The Twelfth Amendment

It has been argued that the 12th Amendment would prevent Trump from standing as Vice President.

The amendment says in part: ‘No person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice President of the United States.’

However, the 12th Amendment was ratified in 1804. nearly 150 years before the 22nd.

The Minnesota paper notes: ‘At the time the Twelfth Amendment was written there was, of course, no Twenty-Second Amendment; therefore, the Twelfth Amendment could not have originally meant to preclude someone from being Vice President who had been elected President twice.’

Instead, it argues that the the Twelfth Amendment’s reference to ‘eligibility’ means what was already in the Constitution at the time – that no one could serve if they were not a natural born citizen and at least 35 years old.

Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev came to an arrangement that allowed Putin to serve more terms

The Putin-Medvedev precedent

There is a modern precedent of sorts for Trump pursuing a third term, which is sometimes referred to as the Putin-Medvedev method.

In 2008 Putin was constitutionally barred from seeking a third consecutive term as president.

His loyal associate Dmitry Medvedev stood and was elected president, having publicly pledged to appoint Putin as his Prime Minister.

Putin wielded power through Medvedev, for that term, and then stood again for president in 2012.

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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk