Third term for Donald Trump? Chinese analyst who foresaw US-Iran war reveals loophole

A provocative new claim from a prominent geopolitical forecaster suggests President Donald Trump could theoretically secure a third term as President of the United States by navigating a constitutional technicality that bypasses standard term limits.

Jiang Xueqin, a Beijing-based scholar and Yale graduate often dubbed 'China's Nostradamus', raised the possibility during an appearance on the Raj Shamani podcast. Jiang previously built a wide following on his Predictive History YouTube channel after correctly forecasting Trump’s political comeback and an escalation in US-Iran tensions.

The core of Jiang's theory hinges on a specific interpretation of the 22nd Amendment, which states that no person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.

"There is nothing in the Constitution that says that a president cannot run as vice president and then the president resigns and he becomes the president," Jiang asserted during the podcast. "There is nothing in the Constitution that forbids this."

Under this hypothetical scenario:

• A two-term president campaigns on a national ticket as the Vice Presidential candidate.  
• Following an election victory and inauguration, the sitting President steps down.  
• The Vice President automatically assumes the presidency through constitutional succession.  

While American legal scholars have long debated this hypothetical thought experiment — noting potential friction between the 22nd Amendment and the 12th Amendment's qualification rules — Jiang presented the concept as a serious forecast for how future political maneuvers could unfold.

US mid-term election schedule 

The US midterm elections are scheduled for November 3, 2026. During these elections, all 435 seats in the US House of Representatives and 33 seats in the US Senate will be up for vote.

President Trump's approval ratings sit near second-term lows across aggregate polling tracking:

• Approval Average: 36% to 38%  
• Disapproval Average: 58% to 60%  
• Net Approval: approximately –20% to –23%  

Recent major polling aggregators place his standing at around 38% approval and 58.7% disapproval. Support remains strongest among Republicans (over 70-80% approval), but has seen noticeable erosion among center-leaning and independent voters.