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.
The idea of exploiting this loophole has long been percolating in academic circles, behind the scenes in Congress and the White House, and recently among Trump's most fervent supporters.
Carrying it out would not 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 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.
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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.
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.'
Read the full story here: Daily Mail