Donald Trump Must Resign

The OliverClarity blog is often political but generally addresses issues from a legal, business, or economic perspective. The posts are written for entrepreneurs and there is no blind adherence to doctrine. Engaging as business owners as opposed to partisans hopefully provides something a little fresher than the saber-rattling and insults that pass today for political discourse.

Prior posts have shown no love for Donald Trump and the band of toadies that constitute his cabinet. The arguments have been admittedly blunt, but since this president holds himself out as a deal maker extraordinaire it is fair to point out the utter lack of any actual business acumen to be found in his policies and decisions. Ironically, even though Trump University apparently failed to teach anyone, anything, ever, today’s White House provides an MBA-level, Wharton-caliber course on what entrepreneurs should never do.

However, this post contains no such object lesson for entrepreneurs. After yesterday’s appalling display of faithlessness to the government and nation over which he presides — at a press conference on foreign soil, in the presence and to the benefit of the greatest threat to American security and well-being — Donald Trump should resign. It doesn’t matter why Trump showed such fealty to Vladimir Putin at the expense of the country he has sworn to protect, he is not fit to lead. Donald Trump should resign immediately.

Moreover, it is time for Congress to assert the role assigned to it by the Constitution and act aggressively to check the power of this presidency. It can effectively shut the administration down the same way it so often thwarted President Obama’s initiatives. This does not require impeachment but simply wresting leadership authority from Trump wherever it can. No judges. No Supreme Court justice. No money for his wall or any other initiative. It means passing laws to obstruct the trade fights picked by this administration. By stripping Trump of all political capital, it can essentially sideline the White House until this president is impeached (an outcome the possibility of which rose starkly yesterday) or removed from office by vote in 2020.

If the Republicans, who control both houses of Congress, refuse to act swiftly and decisively, the upcoming midterms provide voters with an opportunity to express their extreme displeasure with a party that has so far coddled and enabled such a ruinous president. GOP representatives spent nine hours last week grilling an FBI agent over the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a personal email server; it should exhibit at least the same fortitude to respond aggressively when the president cozies up to our enemies. Committees that spent years on fruitless investigations into Benghazi should demand a thorough review of and detailed hearings on Trump’s relationship with Putin and Russia. If the Republican decisions-makers — those who haven’t already declined a reelection bid and are fleeing Washington, D.C. — are so blindly beholden to the relatively small, ultra-right cult that worships a con-man, then they are no more fit to lead than Trump.

Helsinki was a game-changer. Trump proved that he is not just an incompetent buffoon, a would-be strongman who shows what he considers toughness by brutalizing illegal immigrants and insulting Justin Trudeau and Teresa May. He is, in fact, a coward, unwilling and unable to stand up to the gravest threat to American sovereignty. If he won’t resign voluntarily — and he won’t — then he must be made to heel by Congress, not Putin.

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