US President Donald Trump so far has cohabited with the threat of being impeached throughout his term. From the very beginning of his presidency, the threat has been like a Damocles sword hanging over his head. So the president listened to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s announcement of an impeachment process against him with absolute peace of mind.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Donald Trump
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If the transcript of Mr. Trump’s phone call shows he was pushing Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate former US Vice President and now a Democrat presidential hopeful Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, it would be very dangerous for Mr. Trump's chance and ambition to be re-elected as US president in 2020. But only theoretically. Because in the US, the impeachment of a president-in-office is more a political affair than a judicial process. Because it will take long, maybe very long time, and starting and closing an impeachment process has proven to be very cumbersome. Because the Republicans have already tied their political fate with that of Mr. Trump's presidency and re-election. The Republican Party has the minority in the House but they are controlling the Senate. The Democrats may push forwards the impeachment procedure in the House but will likely in no way get the necessary two-thirds majority in the Senate to successfully impeach a president in office like Mr. Trump.
It is now reasonable for the Democrats to start the process that might lead to the impeachment of Mr. Trump, not because there is enough evidence against him but because it is now a better chance for them to remove the president from power and because they feel he is now more at stake than ever before.
The Democrats are now playing a very dangerous game by impeaching Mr. Trump. They might add more troubles to Mr. Trump but have no chance, legally and politically, to successfully impeach him. Most Americans don't want impeachment and the Democrats would very soon pay very high political price for fanatically putting effort in something reasonable but not feasible for the time being in the US.
