U.S. Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari of Arizona claimed yesterday on the social network X that U.S. President Donald Trump is “seriously mentally ill” and that he should be immediately removed from office by invoking the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
“The President of the United States is seriously mentally ill and is therefore endangering all of our lives. The 25th Amendment exists for a reason — we must activate it immediately,” Ansari wrote. The congresswoman was reacting, as stated, to a message Trump sent to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.
“Dear Jonas: Given that your country has decided not to award me the Nobel Peace Prize for stopping eight wars, I no longer feel obligated to think exclusively about peace, although it will always prevail, but can now think about what is good and right for the United States of America,” Trump wrote in the message. The message was Trump’s response to an earlier message sent to him by Støre and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, reports Index.hr.
“Dear Mr. President, dear Donald — regarding contact across the Atlantic, Greenland, Gaza, Ukraine — and your tariff announcement yesterday. You know our position on these issues. But we believe we should all work on de-escalation — so much is happening around us and we must unite.
We propose to call you later today, either together or separately — let us know what you would prefer! Kind regards, Alex and Jonas,” the message read.
The Office of the Norwegian Prime Minister confirmed that Støre and Trump exchanged messages on Sunday. The Norwegian prime minister additionally responded with an official statement.
“Norway’s position on Greenland is clear. Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and Norway fully supports the Kingdom of Denmark on this matter. We also support NATO taking responsible steps to strengthen security and stability in the Arctic.
As for the Nobel Peace Prize, I have clearly explained — including to President Trump — what is well known: the prize is awarded by an independent Nobel Committee, not by the Norwegian government,” he noted.
Calls to invoke the 25th Amendment against Trump were also made by Democratic Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove of California. The 25th Amendment allows the vice president to assume the duties of acting president when the president is no longer able to continue performing his function, for example if he becomes incapacitated due to physical or mental illness.
Section 4 of the amendment allows the vice president and a majority of cabinet members to declare the president unfit to perform his duties.
In that case, they must sign a letter to the Speaker of the House and the President pro tempore of the Senate stating that the president is unable to govern or is not able to “discharge the powers and duties” of the office. At that moment, the vice president automatically assumes presidential powers.
The president is then given the opportunity to respond in writing, and if he contests the decision, the final decision is made by Congress. To remove the president, a two-thirds majority is required in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Until the procedure is concluded, the vice president serves as president.
Discussions about invoking the 25th Amendment also emerged after President Trump was diagnosed with COVID-19 in October 2020, due to concerns that he might be too ill to lead the country. The amendment was ratified in 1967, four years after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, and its purpose was to clarify questions of presidential succession in the event that a president becomes incapacitated.
For this reason, some presidents have used it — specifically Section 3 of the amendment, which allows them to temporarily transfer powers to the vice president.
Thus, in 2002 and 2007, President George W. Bush transferred powers to the vice president while he was under anesthesia during routine colonoscopies. President Ronald Reagan did the same in 1985, when he was hospitalized for cancer surgery.
To date, however, no sitting president has ever been permanently removed from office through the application of the 25th Amendment.
Foto: Wikimedia/Gage Skidmore – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic – CC-BY-SA-2.0
