Could the US constitution's 25th Amendment take Trump down?
A growing number of White House staff and Republicans are talking about using the 25th Amendment against Trump as unfit to be president.
A story was published by Vanity Fair on Wednesday further ignited talk that the 25th Amendment might be enacted by the United States Vice President and Cabinet against Trump.
Reporting on numerous interviews conducted with Republican officials and White House workers, Vanity Fair reported that the president was "unravelling."
The 25th Amendment was adopted in 1967 as a clarification to the US Constitution in the case of an unfit or unable President.
Its four sections prescribe the procedures for the replacement of both the president and vice president’s office in case of death, removal, resignation or incapacitation, respectively.
All sections have been invoked previously except for Section Four, and now some believe that it too will be used in the near future against Trump.
Rifts between the President and Republican members of Congress were already known, given the inability of the administration to pass a health bill to repeal previous president Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act, despite having a majority in both levels of Congress.
In addition, previous members of Trump administration have gone to part ways and harshly criticise the president, the most recent of which is his former chief strategist Steve Bannon.
Steve Bannon believes President Trump only has a 30% chance of completing his full term, a source tells Vanity Fair https://t.co/cNH4JFjEno pic.twitter.com/dEc1UFB4Eb
— CNN (@CNN) October 12, 2017
In fact, Vanity Fair reports that when Bannon tried to warn the President of the 25th amendment, saying that it posed a greater threat to his presidency than impeachment, Trump reportedly said, “What’s that?”
On October 4, Republican Senator Bob Corker also spoke out against Trump, saying to a couple of reporters that it was only thanks to certain officials in the White House that prevented Trump leading the country into chaos.
.@SenBobCorker: "I think Sec. Tillerson, Sec. Mattis and Chief of Staff Kelly are those people that help separate our country from chaos." pic.twitter.com/NjuRX59s6A
— CSPAN (@cspan) October 4, 2017
A couple of days later, Trump tweeted about the senator not having the courage to run for another term in office and that Corker had “begged” Trump for his endorsement. The president also criticised Corker for his role in the Iran nuclear agreement, a deal that the president has been a very vocal critique of.
Senator Bob Corker "begged" me to endorse him for re-election in Tennessee. I said "NO" and he dropped out (said he could not win without...
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 8, 2017
..my endorsement). He also wanted to be Secretary of State, I said "NO THANKS." He is also largely responsible for the horrendous Iran Deal!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 8, 2017
...Hence, I would fully expect Corker to be a negative voice and stand in the way of our great agenda. Didn't have the guts to run!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 8, 2017
Corker replied a couple of hours later with the following tweet.
It's a shame the White House has become an adult day care center. Someone obviously missed their shift this morning.
— Senator Bob Corker (@SenBobCorker) October 8, 2017
Later, in a phone interview with a New York Times reporter, Corker expressed his worries about the volatility that the president presents in the White House, saying that he thinks Trump sees it as a reality show and “does not realise that we could be heading towards World War 3.”
Trump responded with the following tweet:
The Failing @nytimes set Liddle' Bob Corker up by recording his conversation. Was made to sound a fool, and that's what I am dealing with!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 10, 2017
Interestingly enough, rumours about friction between the president and two of the three named officers have circulated this past week.
First, it was reported US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson referred to the president as a “moron” after a meeting back in July. Reports also involved Vice President Mike Pence as a mediator between the two.
Trump responded by challenging the Secretary of State to “compare IQ tests.”
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders was quick to disband such allegations by saying that the president had “full confidence in the Secretary of State” and that his remarks were a joke.
Trump was also quick to deny the friction on Twitter.
The @NBCNews story has just been totally refuted by Sec. Tillerson and @VP Pence. It is #FakeNews. They should issue an apology to AMERICA!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 4, 2017
However, this couldn’t erase the fact that the two had previously butted heads on important issues such as North Korea and US’s Middle East policy.
With rumours and later the confirmed nomination of Kirstjen Nielsen by Trump as the Secretary of Homeland Security, a theory circulated that she might be the future replacement to current Chief of Staff General John Kelly.
Once again Trump refuted the allegation via Twitter saying that its was "fake news."
The Fake News is at it again, this time trying to hurt one of the finest people I know, General John Kelly, by saying he will soon be.....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 11, 2017
...fired. This story is totally made up by the dishonest media.The Chief is doing a FANTASTIC job for me and, more importantly, for the USA!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 11, 2017
The following Google Trend chart spanning the past five years, taken on October 12, further validates the argument of an increased interest in the amendment following the President's inauguration in January.
A Google Trend result for the number of '25th Amendment' searches shows a sharp increase following the inauguration of Donald Trump. October 12, 2017.
Talk about potentially using the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office has been around since following his election, but recently with growing conflict and verbal spats between the President and Republican congress members, the option seems more possible.