Vice-President with a trump card?

AS THE White House becomes more and more chaotic so rises in volume the speculation that this presidency may have to end in impeachment. But this recourse is far harder and more complicated than simply bandying the word about would suggest.

Much more feasible might be the invocation of the 25th Amendment of the US constitution.

This provides for removal from office in favour of the replacement by the vice-president when the president is medically unable to fulfil his function. It has been used three times since the war, in each case very temporarily when the president was under general anaesthetic.

Remember when Ronald Reagan was shot in the chest? He was unconscious for several hours while surgeons removed the bullet and Amendment 25 was invoked.

Entertaining though Michael Wolff’s book Fire And Fury may be, are the actual alarm bells the revelations – if true – of Donald Trump’s alleged absent-mindedness, verging on amnesia? Wolff claims he repeats himself and cannot recognise friends he has known for life. Could this be a progressive deterioration?

It takes only 14 signatures to activate Section IV of Amendment 25 – the vice-president and 13 out of 24 (a majority) of the members of the cabinet. A palace coup? Not unheard-of. Perhaps Vice President Mike Pence is the man to watch.