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The twice-impeached President

It was impossible for us to not write an article for this magazine about a man that had such an influence on the United States of America (now that it was a good or a bad one, it’s up to you) – Donald Trump. Being the first president in US History with not one, but two impeachments, we will now take a deeper look at the reasons why these conclusions were reached and what impact it will have on Donald Trump’s future, but also on the country’s future.


Who is Donald Trump?

This question does not make much sense, given that most or all the world knows who Donald J. Trump is, but it doesn’t hurt to do a recap and see what role he played in the country’s evolution. Donald John Trump is a politician and a media personality. He is a member of the Republican Party and was the 45th president of the United States of America from 2017 to 2021, the current president now being Joe R. Biden. However, he still has not recognized his loss and claims to have won the election by a large amount, which will give him a lot of trouble in the future.


The impeachment and its consequences

Impeachment is a political process when the House of Representatives charges a President, Vice-president, or a public official for the misconduct alleged to have been committed. The House of Representatives voted 232-197 on Jan. 13 to impeach Trump for an unprecedented second time for his role in the six riots and breach of the Capitol, which occurred as a joint session of Congress was ratifying the election of President Biden. Parliament votes on the proposal by secret ballot, and if two-thirds of all representatives agree, the president is impeached. Once impeached, the president's powers are suspended, and the Constitutional Court decides whether or not the President should be removed from office.


BBC Source


First Impeachment

The first impeachment of Donald Trump was on December 18, 2019, two articles of impeachment being held: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. All this happened when Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Hunter and Joe Biden. It ended on February 8, 2020, but this will not remain the only impeachment he will have. Donald Trump made history for being the third ever impeached president, joining Nixon and Clinton. The president is accused of dangling two things as bargaining chips to Ukraine - withholding $400m of military aid to Ukraine that had already been allocated by Congress, and a White House meeting for Ukraine's president. This, Democrats say, amounts to an abuse of presidential power, using the office for personal political gain and to the detriment of national security. Ukraine was using that money in its ongoing conflict with Russia. But we expected him to defend himself against those accusations, saying that Ukraine’s president felt no pressure.


Second Impeachment

The impeachment that made Donald Trump famous than ever, being the first president with two of them, started on January 13, 2021. This one was about Trump’s supporters protested against the 2020 presidential election, believing that Donald Trump organized the whole thing. After the impeachment, a trial happened in the United States Senate. It happened after his presidency ended. The Senate voted that Trump was not guilty, with only 57 guilty votes. Over two thirds (67) votes were needed for Trump to be found guilty. On January 8, Democrats want to push an impeachment resolution on January 11. By late January 9, it was said that Pence had not ruled out that he might use the 25th Amendment. On February 13, the House officially announced that it votes to impeach Donald Trump.


So, what’s next?

I guess this is a question that only time will answer. Given that Trump got recently impeached, we can say that his reputation as a politician and the Republican party are a little bit hurt, he lost the benefits of being the former president, which represents a pension paid throughout their lifetime after leaving the office. Also, the risk of not be able to run for office again is another major problem, the Senat being able to vote to disqualify. It’s only up to Donald Trump if he wants to stand out even more with similar things and remain in history with only such action, or to make a change.


Editor’s note

At the time this article is published, Donald Trump was acquitted by the US Senate, however, it is important to note that 7 Republicans voted to impeach the president, which is the strongest bipartisan support for the conviction in any of the four impeachments in US history. The trial ended abruptly, in just five days, as the Senate not only had little appetite for prolonged proceedings, but Trump’s supporters were also clear about the fact that they would not hold him accountable for the accusations. The end of the trial marks what some might call a bitter-sweet ending, as it puts a stop to some of the past controversies of Mr Trump’s presidency, paving the way forward for the Biden administration.


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