Donald Trump may only be just over a year into his latest term in the White House, but that hasn’t stopped the speculation about who could take over in 2028.

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With the 22nd Amendment stating: “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.” — Trump would not be able to run again.

So naturally, people have turned to artificial intelligence for answers.

Several YouTube creators have been putting major AI models to the test, asking them to predict who will become the next President of the United States — and the results have raised eyebrows.

ChatGPT’s Prediction

In a video from the YouTube account I Ask AI, the creator asked ChatGPT to name the top Democratic and Republican contenders for 2028, identify who it would personally support, and then predict who would actually win.

For the Democrats, the model pointed to: “Gavin Newsome and Gretchen Whitmer.” It added: “At this point, it looks more and more like Newsome will be the one running at the top of the ticket with Whitmer as a strong VP pick.”

Reacting on camera, the creator said: “Oh wow. Well, there’s actually a lot to unpack here.”

On the Republican side, ChatGPT was more direct: “JD Vance.” It described him as a continuation of Trump’s political movement, concluding: “He’s Trumpism 2.0. Same fire, less mess. And for the Republican party in 2028, that might be exactly what they’re looking for.”

The creator summarised: “Well, all right. JD Vance, aka Trumpism 2.0, is ChatGPT’s pick for the Republican nominee.”

When asked to call the overall race, ChatGPT drew a distinction between prediction and preference.

“If the race ends up being Gavin Newsom versus JD Vance in 2028, then JD Vance is more likely to win.”

However, it added: “As for who I’d vote for, I’d pick Newsom.”

It finished with: “Prediction: JD Vance wins the presidency. Personal vote, Gavin Newsom.”

The creator’s reaction? “Uh, no thank you.”

Grok’s Electoral Map Forecast

Another YouTube channel, Election Time, turned to Elon Musk’s AI bot Grok — described in the video as a “sassier” large language model — to run a more detailed state-by-state simulation.

On the Democratic side, possible candidates input included Kamala Harris, Gavin Newsom, Pete Buttigieg, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Josh Shapiro, JB Pritzker, Cory Booker, and Tim Walz.

Early primary polling shared on February 12 showed Harris at 32 percent of the Democratic electorate, with Newsom at 23.8 percent. Market platform Kalshi suggested there was a 56 percent chance Harris would run again.

For Republicans, JD Vance was polling at 49.2 percent as of February 12, with Donald Trump Jr. at 19.5 percent. Kalshi placed a 46 percent chance on Vance becoming the Republican nominee.

Using Harris and Vance as the projected candidates, Grok predicted a decisive result.

According to the AI, Vance would win 326 electoral votes to Harris’ 212 — carrying every state Trump won in 2024, plus Minnesota and New Hampshire.

Harris’ solid states were forecast to include California, Washington, Hawaii, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, the District of Columbia and the first district of Maine.

Meanwhile, Vance’s projected strongholds included Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska (except its second district), Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Indiana, South Carolina, and Ohio.

One notable battleground discussion point was Ohio — though Grok suggested Vance’s birthplace and Trump’s 2024 double-digit margin would likely push it red.

Despite Texas trending in some discussions, Grok noted Trump’s nearly 14-point win there in 2024, roughly triple his 2020 margin.

Polls vs Predictions

Interestingly, these AI forecasts arrive at a time when polling paints a more complicated picture for Republicans. According to Economist/YouGov data cited in the video, 55 percent of Americans say Trump is doing a bad job, while 60 percent believe the country is on the wrong track.

Still, both ChatGPT and Grok independently leaned toward JD Vance as the projected winner in 2028.

Of course, it’s worth remembering that these are speculative AI simulations based on current polling, historical trends, and data inputs — not crystal balls. (Although, who’s to say which is more accurate at this point?)

Candidates haven’t officially declared. Campaigns haven’t begun. And as recent elections have shown, momentum can shift dramatically. For now, though, artificial intelligence seems to agree on one thing: if the 2028 race plays out along current trajectories, JD Vance could be the name to watch.

Featured image credit: Instagram/@realdonaldtrump/WorldManual