There are a few obvious ways around a two-term limit. Author Thom Hartmann has zeroed in on one that doesn’t require breaking a single law.
“Keep an eye on Donald Trump Jr., who may be the dark horse here, because the Trump family business’ money making machine is now politics instead of real estate,” Hartmann told the Mirror US.
His theory doesn’t involve Trump violating the 22nd Amendment at all. It involves the amendment simply becoming irrelevant. “A Don Jr. presidency, or vice presidency, would be an extension of family rule,” he said. “Trump trusts his son to protect his crime family’s interests and keep the grift running; this is the guy who’s spent a decade as his loudest defender and is closest to MAGA influencers. A father-son handoff like this lets him keep his power and immunity from prosecution.”
The legal reasoning holds up exactly the way Hartmann describes it.
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“Legally it doesn’t change anything because Don Jr isn’t Donald Trump himself. Practically it could hand Trump a fourth and fifth term of real power, although his age argues it’d simply be the beginning of a Kennedy-like political dynasty,” he said. He sees the Republican Party itself transforming under that arrangement. “It would turn the Republican Party into something closer to a family business rather than a political party. This is the model Trump publicly admires in the Gulf monarchies that he keeps praising and taking gifts from.”
Don Jr. isn’t some hypothetical name Hartmann pulled out of thin air.
He’s already polling in double digits for 2028, running close behind Marco Rubio in several surveys, with particular strength among younger voters and MAGA loyalists. The Wall Street Journal reported in April that Jeff Bezos and Amazon were negotiating to bring back The Apprentice with Don Jr. hosting, which would hand him the exact media platform that built his father’s political identity in the first place.
Trump hasn’t done much to close the door on any of this, either.
Asked by Fox News’ Bret Baier whether JD Vance would get his endorsement for 2028, Trump’s answer was short. “No, but he’s very capable. I think you have a lot of very capable people. So far I think he’s doing a fantastic job. It’s too early, we’re just starting.”
Steve Bannon has been considerably more direct about Trump’s own future, telling The Economist: “He’s going to get a third term. So Trump ’28, Trump is going to be president in ’28, and people just ought to get accommodated with that.” Trump himself told CNBC he’ll “probably not” seek a third term, while Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles has floated formally rewriting the 22nd Amendment so he legally could.
Featured image via Political Tribune Gallery
