Team Trump prays trial will make us cross again

The furious president broke his daily tweet record complaining about his impeachment. Republicans are banking on voters’ anger too

US President Donald Trump joins Naval Academy cadets during the the Army v. Navy American Football game in Philadelphia on Saturday. Picture: AFP

A trade deal with China, another with Canada and Mexico, historically low unemployment, a surging stockmarket and Democrats divided over their 2020 candidate: if he weren’t about to become the third US president to be impeached, Donald Trump would have plenty of reasons for good cheer heading into the Christmas break.

As it is, Mr Trump’s name will this week appear alongside those of Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton in an unedifying chapter of the history books. Two articles of impeachment were approved by the House of Representatives ­judiciary committee on Friday. On Wednesday, they will be put to a full vote of the house and are expected to pass — with a handful of Democratic defections likely.

Mr Trump feels aggrieved, to put it mildly. He tweeted: “How do you get Impeached when you have done NOTHING wrong (a perfect call), have created the best economy in the history of our Country, rebuilt our Military … created Jobs, Jobs, Jobs, and soooo much more? Crazy!”

The first article of impeachment is for abuse of office: attempting to use US foreign policy as leverage to persuade Ukraine to investigate the son of his possible rival for the White House next year, Democratic hopeful Joe Biden. The second is for obstruction of justice — the Trump administration has not co-operated with the inquiry.

“If the President can first abuse his power and then stonewall all congressional requests for information, congress cannot fulfil its duty to act as a check and balance against the executive, and the President becomes a dictator,” said Jerry Nadler, chairman of the house judiciary committee, during Friday’s vote.

Such is Mr Trump’s disgust at his predicament that on Thursday, local time, he broke his ­record for the number of tweets in a single day: 123.

“He doesn’t like what’s happening,” senator Lindsey Graham, a vocal ally of the President, told The New York Times. “He thinks it’s unfair. But I think he’s resolved himself that they’re going to do it, they’re out to get him.”

Yet Mr Trump will be able to retreat to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida safe in the knowledge that the outcome of his upcoming trial in the Senate is predestined. In the new year, the President’s lawyers are expected to contest the case against hand-picked Democratic legislators, with 100 senators acting as a jury and Chief Justice John Roberts of the ­Supreme Court presiding.

The result is a given. “We all know how it’s going to end: there’s no chance the President’s going to be removed from office,” said Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader, on Thursday.

“My hope is that there won’t be a single Republican who votes for either of these articles of ­impeachment.”

Senate Republicans are planning to discharge their constitutional duty and hold the trial, which is not compulsory, but they expect it to be short and sharp.

And they are confident. “House Republicans have exposed (the) impeachment process as misguided,” said one Republican aide.

“There’s no doubt that Senate Republicans will in due course dispense with impeachment and get back to doing important work, like confirming judges.”

There is some debate at the moment over whether Mr Trump’s lawyers will attempt to call Mr Biden, his son Hunter and others as witnesses. Senate Republicans are pushing for a low-key affair that doesn’t stir further controversy, but Senator McConnell has also indicated he would take his lead from Mr Trump’s lawyers, led by White House legal counsel Pat Cipol­lone, and has promised “total co-ordination”.

Mr Trump is insisting that impeachment is “good for me politically”.

The situation is rather more complex, though: support nationally for impeachment is holding steady at about 47 per cent, while opposition is stable at about 44 per cent.

Republicans are hopeful they can use impeachment as a weapon to rile up their base, however. Mr Trump’s re-election campaign has drawn up a list of 31 Democrats, all in districts won by Mr Trump in 2016, who are potentially vulnerable to an anti-­impeachment advertising blitz.

As for Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic Speaker of the house, who fired the starting gun on impeachment in September, she has signalled her willingness to sign the USMCA, a trade agreement with Mexico and Canada known as the “new NAFTA”, despite it being a political win for Mr Trump.

This will probably happen one day after Mr Trump is impeached by the house, suggesting Ms ­Pelosi is keen to indicate that Democrats are capable of governing and is already focusing her gaze not on impeachment but next year’s election.

The Sunday Times