Internet sleuths discover cryptic hint at third Trump term in White House post

The White House posted a seemingly innocuous image Thursday of what appears to be a parody of a popular video game, albeit with President Donald Trump as a character in the game, but internet sleuths quickly discovered what they allege to be a well-hidden reference to Trump remaining in office beyond his second term.

The social media post, shared by the White House’s official X account, depicts President Donald Trump as a character in the popular 2016 farm simulation game Stardew Valley celebrating his administration “bringing back whole milk.” Like Stardew Valley, the image also includes a numbered counter indicating how much gold the player has accumulated.

The gold counter – which appears to be in a higher resolution than the surrounding text, suggesting it was explicitly edited in the image – reads the players’ gold count as being “45464748,” which was flagged as being a potential reference to Trump being the 45th, the 46th – a reference to Trump’s false claim that he won the 2020 election – 47th and 48th president.

“Wait a minute,” wrote X user “Eris,” an apparent video game enthusiast who’s amassed nearly 10,000 followers. “The gold is signaling the 3rd term s---.”

The social media post flagging the apparent hidden reference quickly spread online, amassing nearly 500,000 views and drawing more scrutiny.

“But we’re supposed to believe he’s just joking,” wrote X user “Nico,” another apparent video game enthusiast and frequent political commentator.

Trump has long mused at the idea of serving a third term in the White House, despite it being strictly prohibited under the 22nd Amendment of the Constitution. Nevertheless, Trump’s former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon has openly encouraged Trump to run for a third term, and has offered several debunked theories as to how he could do so, legally.

“No, I’m not joking. I’m not joking,” Trump said last March when asked about his suggestion that he could run for a third term. “There are methods which you could do it, as you know.”