Trump faces calls for removal over threats to wipe out Iran civilization
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., speaks to the media outside the U.S. Capitol after the House of Representatives voted to pass President Donald Trump’s sweeping spending and tax bill, in Washington, July 3, 2025.
Ken Cedeno | Reuters
The reticence expressed by Democrats about removing President Donald Trump from office — even after he ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and attacked Iran without seeking congressional approval — quickly fell away after his latest threat to Iran.
The president’s Tuesday morning Truth Social post, which threatened “a whole civilization will die tonight” and raised the specter of nuclear war, began a chorus of calls either for Trump’s impeachment or for his removal via the invocation of the 25th Amendment. On Tuesday evening, Trump and Iran announced a two-week ceasefire.
“This is a threat of genocide and merits removal from office. The President’s mental faculties are collapsing and cannot be trusted,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., posted to X on Tuesday. “To every individual in the President’s chain of command: You have a duty to refuse illegal orders. That includes carrying out this threat.”
Trump’s ultimatum came ahead of his Tuesday night deadline for Iran to make a deal with the U.S. and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the key shipping channel for the world’s oil out of the Persian Gulf.
The chance of Trump being removed from office is low, and his Cabinet members — who would have to play an active role in invoking the 25th Amendment — routinely publicly praise him.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., posted to X after the announcement that he was “glad Trump backed off and is desperately searching for any sort of exit ramp from his ridiculous bluster.”
But the pause may not be enough to forestall calls for removal in Congress, where dozens of Democrats — and a few Republicans — condemned Trump on Tuesday. Several said the ceasefire changes nothing.
“Just because a President announces he’s agreed to a two week ceasefire moments before he threatened to commit war crimes, does not mean he is suddenly fit to serve. #25thAmendment,” posted Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M.
Articles of impeachment introduced
Talk of removal began even before the Tuesday Truth Social post, after Trump started the clock on Iran with an Easter Sunday post threatening to attack Iranian bridges and power plants if the country did not soon make a deal.
Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., on Monday introduced articles of impeachment, citing Trump’s “serial usurpation of the congressional war power and commission of murder, war crimes and piracy.”
On Tuesday, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., also advocated for impeachment. “When will it be enough for my Republican colleagues to grow spines and remove him from office?” Omar posted to X.
Others, such as Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., argued that Section 4 of the 25th Amendment — which allows for the involuntary transfer of power if the vice…
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