Donald Trump could lose power as US President if one thing happens, according to a political expert. And the challenge to his presidency could come from an unlikely source
A political expert has suggested that Donald Trump could be ousted from the presidency by an unexpected adversary: himself. Sky News commentator Adam Boulton believes that Trump’s erratic policy changes could alienate his most loyal supporters, particularly if the US is plunged into a challenging situation due to his decisions.
In less than 100 days since taking office, Trump has signed numerous executive orders and, alongside his de-facto Prime Minister Elon Musk, imposed tariffs on allies such as Canada and Mexico, renamed the Gulf of Mexico, temporarily cut aid to Ukraine, and begun deporting many alleged Venezuelans to El Salvador.
Boulton warns that this unpredictability could jeopardise Trump’s relationship with his closest advisers in the Oval Office, who might then turn to Vice President JD Vance as a potential successor to the 78 year old president.
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Despite once labelling Trump “America’s Hitler”, Vance now holds the second-highest office in US politics and, according to Boulton, is well-placed to replace Trump in the White House.
Writing in The i, Boulton remarked: “Should Trump become more of a unpredictable liability – tanking the economy with tariffs, say or pushing America into an armed confrontation with an ally – then Republicans, including cabinet members, may decide that his comparatively squeaky-clean family-oriented VP is a better bet to keep them in power.”
The debate over whether JD Vance would serve America’s interests better remains open, particularly as he has demonstrated a willingness to shift his ideological stance. This uncertainty arises at a time when more experts are cautioning that the US is inching closer to authoritarianism, reports the Mirror.
What might have once been dismissed as unlikely or even unthinkable during Trump’s first term in office now seems to be taking shape as a tangible possibility. This pattern could continue if Vance were to assume leadership.
In a report on the worldwide decline of democratic systems, V-Dem’s chief political scientist Staffan Lindberg stated: “The USA now seems to be heading towards a transition away from democracy under President Trump. In my view, the reverberations of this are and will be enormous across the world.”
This perspective is shared by American personalities like former Republican communications director Tara Setmayer, who told the Guardian: “We are approaching Defcon 1 for our democracy and a lot of people in the media and the opposition leadership don’t seem to be communicating that to the American people.
“That is the biggest danger of the moment we’re in now: the normalisation of it.”
The recent actions of some administration officials seem to bring the issue into sharper focus, highlighted by an incident earlier this month when a French scientist was purportedly barred from entering the US after their phone revealed critical texts about the Trump administration. France’s minister of higher education and research has reportedly stated that the scientist was denied entry “because the researcher’s phone contained exchanges with colleagues and friends in which he expressed a personal opinion on the Trump administration’s research policy”.
There are growing concerns that if Vance were to become President, he may not work towards easing tensions but could instead continue in a similar vein to Trump.
As for the possibility of removing Trump from the presidency, the United States has several procedures in place. Impeachment is the most conventional route, a process Trump managed to survive twice during his tenure.
Alternatively, Vance along with a majority of Trump’s cabinet could invoke the 25th Amendment to the US Constitution, necessitating them to state that Trump is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office”.
Should Trump challenge this assertion, he would be given the opportunity to respond, after which Congress would need to intervene. To decisively eject the President from office, a two-thirds majority vote is needed in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Although Trump’s political allies considered this in the aftermath of the January 6 insurrection, it was not pursued. Other methods of removing a President include political pressure leading to resignation, which led to Richard Nixon stepping down following the Watergate scandal.
