Trump's rhetoric on Iran war sparks wave of calls for his removal from office

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s handling of the war in Iran is sparking the first widespread wave of demands for his removal from office in his second term, including calls for his ousting through the 25th Amendment of the Constitution and moves to introduce articles of impeachment. 

Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., heightened the outrage expressed by many Democrats in Congress over the president's approach to and specifically his rhetoric around Iran in announcing Tuesday night that he officially filed articles of impeachment to remove Trump from the White House. In his press release, Larson cited both the president’s threat to “annihilate an entire civilization” and his “profane and sacrilegious Easter Sunday” message to the country, arguing they put the security of the U.S. at risk and “foreshadow war crimes.”

“His illegal war in Iran is not only driving up prices for American families — it has cost American lives,” Larson wrote. “He's becoming more unstable by the day.”

Larson also referenced the idea that the articles of impeachment could be used in the next session of Congress, when Democrats hope to gain control of one or both chambers. Republicans currently have a majority in both the House and Senate, and Trump has warned that Democrats could try to impeach him if they obtain control after the November midterm elections. 

Droves of congressional Democrats have fiercely pushed back against the conflict Trump launched with Israel nearly six weeks ago from its onset. But the president’s Truth Social post Tuesday morning in which he declared that a “whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again” if Iran did not agree to a deal before his 8 p.m. deadline that night, appeared to be a significant escalation for many Democrats in Congress, with dozens calling for his removal from office via the 25th Amendment in the ensuing hours. 

“Donald Trump's instability is more clear and dangerous than ever,” Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the former House speaker, wrote on X after quoting the president’s Tuesday morning post. “If the Cabinet is not willing to invoke the 25th Amendment and restore sanity, Republicans must reconvene the Congress to end this war.”

In a statement, Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., meanwhile, urged Congress — which is in recess — to return to Washington to pursue impeachment while also demanding the 25th Amendment be invoked.

“With each passing day, it becomes increasingly apparent that Donald Trump is unstable and a clear and present danger, not just to the American people but to the world,” Markey wrote in his statement. “He must be removed from office before he causes incalculable and unfathomable harm.”

In a letter to colleagues Wednesday, the Democratic leader in the House, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, said Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee will host a virtual briefing on the 25th Amendment on Friday. 

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended Trump’s post about killing a civilization at Wednesday’s briefing with reporters.

“I think it was a very, very strong threat from the president of the United States that led the Iranian regime to cave to their knees and ask for a ceasefire and agree to reopening the Strait of Hormuz,” she said. 

Multiple outlets put the total number of lawmakers calling for Trump’s removal as of Tuesday at more than 70. And it added to the list of some who had already begun such calls after another highly scrutinized post from the president on Easter Sunday in which he ramped up his threats to strike civilian infrastructure in Iran — something experts and Democrats say could constitute war crimes — as well as used profanity and referred to the leaders of the country as “crazy bastards.” 

“Invoke the 25th amendment. Impeach. Remove,” Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., wrote in response to that post. “This unhinged lunatic must be removed from office.”

Trump has since announced a two-week ceasefire agreement was reached just ahead of his Tuesday night deadline, although it appears to be fragile as of Wednesday.

The 25th Amendment allows for a vice president to temporarily assume the role of commander in chief if the vice president and a majority of the president’s Cabinet determine the sitting president “is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.” The House and Senate then have to agree by a vote of two-thirds of each chamber, otherwise the president can return to office.

Talk of using such a method to remove the president was floated in Trump's first term as well, particularly after the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. It's unlikely a majority of the president’s Cabinet members — who were appointed by Trump — would back such a move and that the Republican-controlled Congress would vote for it. 

While Republicans in Congress have not echoed such calls, some well-known conservative figures have also urged that the president’s removal via the 25th Amendment be pursued. 

“25TH AMENDMENT!!!” former Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who was previously an outspoken supporter of Trump before resigning from Congress in January amid a high-profile falling out with the president, wrote on X. 

“Not a single bomb has dropped on America,” she added. “We cannot kill an entire civilization. This is evil and madness.”

Other prominent conservative figures such as Alex Jones, Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens have also criticized Trump’s approach to the war in recent days. 

Trump responded to the pushback from Carlson, a former Fox News host, in an interview with the New York Post, calling him a “low-IQ person that has absolutely no idea what's going on.”

In his first term, Trump became the first U.S. president to be impeached twice but he was acquitted by the GOP-controlled Senate in both cases. 

A House Democrat already tried to pursue articles of impeachment against Trump last year but it did not progress or receive the same level of support from his party.

Another House Democrat also announced her intention to pursue articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over the conflict.