Donald Trump Jr. at CPAC on March 2, 2023 (Lev Radin/Shutterstock.com)
President Donald Trump has frequently discussed seeking a third term, despite the clear Constitutional prohibition on the matter — and yet one conservative commentator observed that Trump may be able to stay in power through a different trick.
Simply put, he will have his son Donald Trump Jr. (DJTJ) run for president instead of either Vice President JD Vance or Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
“DJTJ’s biggest advantage is that if he decides to run, Vance and Rubio will have their knees cut out from under them,” wrote The Bulwark’s Jonathan V. Last. “Neither would be able to oppose him. A DJTJ candidacy would carry the explicit endorsement of Trump the Father, making it impossible for the vice president or secretary of state to contest the race without becoming un-personed. Challenging Don Jr. would turn them into enemies of the people.”
Adding that former Fox News host Tucker Carlson could plausibly challenge the president, it is hardly guaranteed he would prevail. Meanwhile DJTJ has a strong financial incentive to run for president.
“The Center for American Progress estimates that the Trump family has seen its net worth balloon to $6.3 billion since January 20, 2025,” Last wrote. “That number includes lots of goodies: unrealized profits from the sale of various crypto holdings; the stock value of his media company.”
He added, “In just cash and gifts, the Trump family’s total take is already more than $2 billion (and that doesn’t include Jared and Ivanka or Barron Trump). That’s a hard number, not a paper value. If the Trump family no longer occupies the White House and relinquishes its claim on the Republican party—thereby removing the possibility that it could return to the White House—does that money keep flowing based on the business genius of Don, Eric, Barron, and Jared? Probably not.”
The younger Trump has himself cast himself as presidential timber, arguing last year “that he’s the rightful heir to MAGA, saying recently of his desire to run: ‘That calling is there. I think my father has truly changed the Republican Party. I think it’s the America First party now, the MAGA party, however you want to look at it.’”
In December he argued about Trump’s Republican movement that “we have to stay involved. We have to stay in the game. Midterms are coming around the corner, and make no mistake, the Democrat Party wants to do whatever they possibly can to shut this movement down."
He added, "Not just the Democrats. The RINOs [Republicans in Name Only]. You see the manufactured attacks on [Vice President JD Vance], myself, my father—anyone who understands that this isn’t the Republican Party anymore. It’s the America First Party. It’s the Make America Great Again Party, and we are not going back.”
A DJTJ presidency would further entrench the Trump family in power, allowing them to further blur the lines between government policy and their personal political and financial interests. Presidential historian and Princeton University professor Julian Zelizer argued that “I don’t think there’s any line right now between policy decisions and political calculations and the interest of the Trump family.” Trump never put his businesses in a blind trust after being elected, despite promising that he would, and when Trump Jr. was asked about profits from his failed cryptocurrency venture and potential conflicts of interest, he replied "Frankly, it’s gotten old."