Pressure mounts for impeaching Trump, as president admits, ‘They’ll find a reason’

A third impeachment of Trump, whether over Venezuela or otherwise, would further disgrace his presidential legacy, which already includes two impeachments during his first term.

Calls from members of Congress to impeach President Donald Trump are growing amid the fallout of his unilateral decision to militarily raid Venezuela, capture its former president, and attempt to control its oil production and sales.

As theGrio previously reported, longtime Trump critic U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., shared that she believed the view among Democrats that impeachment is not a viable option without a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, saying in a statement, “Many Democrats have understandably questioned whether impeachment is possible again under the current political reality. I am reconsidering that view. Even if Republicans refuse to act, Democrats cannot remain silent or passive in the face of actions this extreme from this Administration.”

Waters was joined by a handful of Democrats who say Trump’s military action in Latin America was a violation of the U.S. Constitution. U.S. Rep. April McClain Delaney, D-Md., suggested that the Venezuela military raid may not be Trump’s only impeachable offense.

“This move follows a year in which he has illegally dismantled federal agencies, conducted cruel immigration raids against our neighbors – including American citizens, instigated an unlawful trade war, called for the execution of sitting Members of Congress, and now is escalating international tensions even further with military threats against Colombia and Greenland,” said Delaney.

She added, “These individual actions are impeachable offenses in their own right, but their ever mounting cumulative impact on our country’s stability and health puts everything in a new light. I now believe that our Democratic Caucus must imminently consider impeachment proceedings.”

U.S. Rep. Delia C. Ramirez, D-Ill., said President Trump and his administration are “out of control” and believe they are “untouchable.” The congresswoman asserted, “But they are not… Trump must be impeached.”

Ramirez also called for fellow Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s War Powers Resolution to be passed in the House, which was introduced last year amid Trump’s bomb strikes of boat vessels in the Caribbean Sea that has killed more than 100 people. The strikes have been condemned by Democratic lawmakers who argued that the Trump administration violated the legal due process rights of those killed.

Trump himself said he sees the writing on the wall, telling House Republicans on Tuesday that if his party does not win in November’s midterm elections and lose control of the U.S. House, he will be impeached by Democrats.

“You got to win the midterms because if we don’t win the midterms, it’s just going to be — I mean, they’ll find a reason to impeach me. I’ll get impeached,” said the president.

Trump has already made history as the first U.S. president to be impeached twice. He was impeached in 2019 on charges of abuses of power after he allegedly pressured Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to interfere in the 2020 election. Trump was again impeached in 2021 for his alleged role in inciting the deadly Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, which was driven by Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was rigged against him due to voter fraud.

A third impeachment of Trump, whether over Venezuela or otherwise, would further disgrace his presidential legacy. However, whether or not the House gets enough votes to impeach Trump, a third impeachment would likely only be symbolic. In order to convict Trump of impeachment, he would need two-thirds of the U.S. Senate to vote in favor.

Given the current makeup of the Senate and Republican majority (53-47)–and Republicans’ unshakable loyalty to Trump thus far–Trump would likely continue to serve in office.

U.S. Rep. Al Green is likely the first Democrat to call for Trump’s impeachment during his second term back in February. After Trump declared that the United States would takeover the Gaza strip and relocate about 1.8 million Palestinians amid Israel’s years-long deadly military operation, Congressman Green slammed the president’s remarks as “ethnic cleansing.”

“Dr. [Martin Luther] King was right. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere…I rise to announce that the movement to impeach the president has begun,” said Green.

In December, Green officially filed a resolution to impeach Trump after the president appeared to call for the execution of six Democrats.

“This resolution asserts that President Trump is an abuser of presidential power who, if left in office, will continue to promote violence, engender invidious hate, undermine our democracy, and dissolve our Republic, and that he is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors,” Green said in a statement.