Trump's Threats Against Iran: "Futile" Calls to Invoke the 25th Amendment, a Mechanism Beyond Political Reach, Even as Signs Suggest a Decline in the President's Popularity

DORAL, FLORIDA - MARCH 09: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters during a news conference at Trump National Doral Miami on March 9, 2026 in Doral, Florida. President Trump spoke on his administration's strikes on Iran. (Photo by Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images)

After Donald Trump threatened to destroy "an entire civilization" in Iran, his remarks reignited calls to invoke the 25th Amendment. This procedure allows for the removal of a president deemed incapable of fulfilling his duties. It is a mechanism beyond political reach, even as signs suggest a decline in the president's popularity.

No stranger to controversy, Donald Trump crossed a new line on April 7th by threatening to destroy "an entire civilization" in Iran. These remarks provoked a rare backlash, even within his own party.

On the Democratic side, the reaction was immediate. More than 70 elected officials, questioning the American president's mental capacity, called for his removal from office.  Some have invoked the 25th Amendment—which allows the vice president and the cabinet to declare a president unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office—and others have filed articles of impeachment.

More strikingly, some conservative figures have also reacted strongly. “25TH AMENDMENT!!! Not a single bomb has fallen on America. We cannot kill an entire civilization. This is evil and insanity,” wrote former Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene on X. She was once one of Donald Trump’s most ardent supporters. Another of his former loyalists, Tucker Carlson, accused him of threatening “a war crime, a moral crime.”

While impeachment seems out of reach as long as Republicans control both houses of Congress, and the 25th Amendment is politically ineffective, the most effective checks and balances against Donald Trump have come from the courts.  Federal judges have blocked several presidential decrees on constitutional grounds. Even the Supreme Court, generally supportive of the administration's agenda, has blocked some major initiatives, particularly those related to tariffs, dealing a significant blow to the president.

A Democratic victory in the midterm elections this November could further alter the situation. Control of the House of Representatives would give them the chairmanship of key committees with subpoena power. This would open the door to investigations into the Trump family's business dealings, its cryptocurrency investments, and the financial ties between Gulf States and the administration.

According to Mario Del Pero, "if major scandals break, there could be an opening for impeachment proceedings. But that's a distant prospect." For now, Donald Trump's political survival rests on a single variable: the loyalty of the Maga base and his unique ability to keep it united.  "Trump is acting like MAGA; he's even absorbing the most radical political about-faces," concludes the professor of American politics. "Remove Trump, and the divisions within MAGA will explode."

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