A commentator known online as “China’s Nostradamus” has made a widely circulating claim that Donald Trump will seek a third.
Jiang Xueqin, a Yale-educated commentator who has taken on the nickname “China’s Nostradamus” online, has built a following for offering predictions about global politics based on historical patterns and game theory.
He predicted Trump’s 2024 election win and the possibility of US-Iran conflict as evidence of predictive accuracy. It’s worth noting, however, that both events were widely discussed possibilities among many political observers at the time.
Chinese Nostradamus’ new, chilling claim
In an interview with podcaster Steven Bartlett, Jiang laid out a hypothetical scenario in which Trump seeks to remain in office beyond the two-term limit set by the 22nd Amendment.
The amendment that has been in place since 1951 and currently makes a third term constitutionally impossible without significant legal upheaval.
Jiang floated a few different hypothetical pathways, including a national emergency used to suspend constitutional limits, or a scenario involving Donald Trump Jr. running for president and resigning shortly after being sworn in, with his running mate (Trump himself) then assuming office.
He acknowledged this second scenario isn’t explicitly barred by the Constitution’s letter, though it would represent an enormous break from established political norms.
“A lot of US politics is convention,” Jiang said.
“It’s agreed upon norms. But if a US president is like, ‘Well, screw these conventions,’ there’s nothing anyone else can do about it.”
Trump has publicly expressed frustration with the term limit in the past, telling reporters in October 2025, “I’m not allowed to run. It’s too bad,” and has posted about a potential future campaign on Truth Social.
Jiang doesn’t see a rosy end to things if Trump was to, one way or another, get a third term.
“What will happen is these cities that are Democratic will be in open revolt, meaning they will refuse to pay taxes to the federal government, but they will also not welcome ICE federal agents into their cities.”
Historically, if that were to happen, then the US president will usually think that he has responsibility to quash this insurrection,” he said and continued: “This would over time lead to the siege of New York City – maybe federal forces along with possibly militias from other states, possibly red states that favour Trump. They would try to besiege New York City by cutting off the food supply and water supply to New York City. And this will be a conflict that could go on for years and years,” he added.
Why the prediction is circulating now
Predictions like this tend to spread quickly online regardless of how speculative they are, particularly when they’re framed with confident, dramatic language and a self-styled “prophet” label attached.
Jiang’s specific comments about potential unrest in major cities and a hypothetical “siege” scenario remain entirely his own hypothesis, not a forecast grounded in specific evidence or expert analysis of current events.
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