Never-before-used rule that would remove Donald Trump as president explained

Donald Trump has raised concerns about his suitability for office after a fiery post about the ongoing war with Iran has seen even fellow Republicans criticising the president.

Trump has in recent days been calling on America’s allies to aid in opening the Strait of Hormuz, a busy shipping lane which Iran has shut down.

Keir Starmer and other allies have confirmed previously that they are unwilling to send warships to aid in reopening the Strait and are focused on diplomatic attempts to reopen it, something that has been heavily criticised by Trump and his allies.

In an Easter Sunday post, however, Trump said that Tuesday would be ‘power plant day, and bridge day’, seemingly threatening to continue bombing key Iranian sites.

He went on to add: “There will be nothing like it!!! Open the F*ckin’ Strait, you crazy b*stards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah.”

This has led some politicians to call on those in Trump’s cabinet to activate an incredibly rare constitutional power that would remove Trump.

The 25^th Amendment to the Constitution explained

The 25^th Amendment to the Constitution can, in certain situations, be used to remove the president, as it is intended to sort out the presidential line of succession.

It is made up of four sections, with the first three clarifying situations where the vice president may take over from the president.

The first specifies that if the president leaves office (because they have died, resigned, or been otherwise expelled from their role), the VP, in this case, JD Vance, will take over.

The next section specifies that if the VP is unable to take on that role, the president nominates a replacement who will be approved by Congress.

Section three allows the president to temporarily allow their VP to take over, something which George Bush took up on two occasions for medical reasons.

The fourth, however, is a process in which a vice president and the president’s cabinet can declare their leader ‘unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office’.

How would the process work and who is calling on JD Vance to initiate it?

If Vance and Trump’s cabinet initiate section four of the 25^th Amendment, the president would be stripped of his powers.

He would then be allowed to send a letter saying he is actually fit to lead.

If he were to respond with this, Vance would be given four days to respond by re-stating that the president is unfit for office. This would trigger a congressional vote requiring a two-thirds majority to oust him from office for good.

Chris Murphy, a democratic senator from Connecticut, has been the first to call for the amendment to be used.

He tweeted in response to Trump’s Truth Social post: “If I were in Trump's Cabinet, I would spend Easter calling constitutional lawyers about the 25th Amendment. This is completely, utterly unhinged. He's already killed thousands. He's going to kill thousands more.”

While not calling on his removal from office, former key Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene has been heavily critical of Trump’s post.

In a long post, she said that ‘this is NOT what we promised the American people when they overwhelmingly voted in 2024.’

She also added: “This is not making America great again, this is evil.”