Donald Trump. A man that needs no introduction. The 45th President of the United States of America was one of the more controversial ones to take office. The man who established the Space Force, introduced the First Step Act and tax reforms, and defeated the ISIS caliphate during his first term as President is known more for his massive failures, whether it be his reactions to the neo-nazi rally in Charlottesville, or his inability to replace the Affordable Care Act or his treatments of refugees and their children and most importantly his impeachments, all of which effectively proved extremely detrimental to the global image of US. Given this sparkling resume, he still has a massive following and “Make America Great Again” was synonymous with Trump’s 2020 campaign. He didn’t take his loss in the 2020 elections to the Democratic Party and Joe Biden lightly either, with Trump’s “STOP THE COUNT!” and his demands for a recount being well documented. This article seeks to shed light on three major controversies; his impeachments, the appeals in court regarding his tax files and his links to the recent capitol attacks.
Trump has been impeached not once, but twice, making him the only President in US history to have been impeached twice. His first impeachment came in December 2019 on grounds of abuse of power and obstruction of congress, which saw him become the third president in history to be charged with committing high crimes and misdemeanours and face removal by the Senate. The article on abuse of power was based on a report of Trump trying to persuade the Ukrainian President to investigate Joe and Hunter Biden and the administration’s attempt to conceal the whistleblower complaint. The launch of a formal investigation on this matter was announced by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on 24th September, 2019. The vote was held on 18th December, 2019 and the article on abuse of power passed 230 to 197, and the second one on obstruction in congress passed 229 to 198. The Senate trial formally began on January 21, 2020, with seven House Democrat impeachment managers arguing their case of Trump's abuses against the president's legal defence that everything was valid. The democrats tried to use former national security adviser John Bolton as a wild card but it went in vain when the Senate voted against allowing additional witnesses on January 31. On the 5th of February, 2020, the Senate acquitted Trump of both charges, thereby ending this saga.
This controversy arose as a result of two massive decisions issued by the Supreme Court on 9th July, 2020. The first, Trump v. Vance, related only to a New York state criminal subpoena; the second, Trump v. Mazars, related to congressional subpoenas of Trump's tax returns. The reason why Trump v. Vance is of such importance is because the Supreme Court stated that Trump should be treated like any other ordinary litigant seeking to quash a subpoena and use defences like overbreadth and unwarranted harassment. Trump has been under fire from democrats for years because he never made his tax returns unlike his predecessors. His lawyers have argued that his status as the President exempts him from having to show his returns and Trump v. Vance helps quash all such arguments. The NYT (New York Times) says Mr Trump has paid about $400m less in combined federal income taxes over the last two decades compared to a very rich person who paid the average for that group each year. His presidential predecessors Barack Obama and George Bush often paid in excess of $100,000 in federal income taxes while in office. The Trump Organization has joined the president in denying the NYT's allegations. The company's chief legal officer, Alan Garten, told the newspaper that "most, if not all, of the facts appear to be inaccurate". As recently as February 2021, Trump took another blow in this regard as the Supreme Court refused to step in and halt the turnover of his tax records to a New York prosecutor.
Lastly, we move on to the capitol siege of January 6, 2021. Trump, who refused to accept defeat in the 2020 elections to Joe Biden, held a rally on January 6th where he declared that he wouldn’t concede and urged his supporters to march to the Capitol building. The events that followed will forever be etched in American history, for it served as a devastating blow to the ideals and beliefs of this democratic country. The supporters marched to the building, fought the police and even made their way to the Senate Chambers forcing several lawmakers to flee the building in fear for their lives. Trump, known for his shenanigans on twitter, tweeted saying that they must remember that day forever and that they could now go home in love and peace. It took until 6 pm for law enforcement to take complete control of the building. The chaos resulted in 4 deaths, more than 50 arrests and a public emergency was declared in Washington DC. Congress reconvened and the session went well past midnight with Joe Biden being formally declared President at 3:40 am on 7th January. Trump, although conceding Biden’s victory, tweeted that he wouldn’t attend the inauguration. Trump’s influence on the capitol attacks saw him banned from several social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook etc. On January 13th, 2021, Trump was impeached for the second time on grounds of “incitement of insurrection”. The trial was held on 13th February and resulted in the most bipartisan support for conviction ever seen in a Presidential impeachment trial with a 57 to 43 vote.
On having a look at the three cases above, it is fair to say Trump is one of the more controversial men to have taken office as the President of the United States of America. It took a lot for him to admit defeat and even refused to attend Biden’s inauguration, making him the first outgoing President to do so in 150 years. Despite all this, Trump still remains extremely popular amongst millions of people and is still the face of the Republican party. He even hinted at running in 2024 and his supporters immediately took to twitter with #Trump2024 and #MAGA trending soon after. The road to 2024 is long and the world waits eagerly to see how this will all unravel. Will Trump make a miraculous recovery after his fall from grace? Only time will tell.
Article by -
Ashwin Sarathi Krishnan
PES MUN Society
Comments