Two major bombshells from Donald Trump could lead to major consequences in the long-term, a political analyst has claimed.
The president's actions in Venezuela and Greenland could lead to a spike in investigations, subpoenas, and voter backlash. Whether this comes to light is yet to be seen, but The Mirror's Christopher Bucktin believes a midterms blowout for the Republican Party would lead to swift action from Democratic Party representatives.
He wrote, "Historically, midterms punish the party in the White House. Trump has made the odds worse through economic pain, broken promises and scandal.
"Polling suggests voters are restless, angry and increasingly receptive to handing Congress back to the Democrats. If Democrats regain the House - and potentially the Senate - the consequences for Trump would be severe.
"Congressional investigations would intensify overnight. Subpoenas would multiply. The Epstein files would return to centre stage. So would questions about abuse of power, obstruction and the systematic undermining of democratic norms. And with Democratic majorities, impeachment would no longer be a symbolic threat."
Time will tell whether this occurs, but backlash from Trump's want to subsume Greenland into U.S. territory and the capture of Venezuela's president, Nicolás Maduro, without seeking Congressional approval, could spark a reaction later this year.
Bucktin continued, "Trump has already been impeached twice and survived thanks to Republican control of the Senate. A Congress flipped by voter backlash would change the outlook entirely.
"A third impeachment, this time followed by conviction, removal from office and the end of Trump’s presidency, would become a real, not theoretical, possibility.
"Republicans privately acknowledge the danger. Publicly, they cling to loyalty. Trump, for his part, dismisses the prospect, insisting his base remains unshakeable. But history offers little comfort to presidents who confuse noise with numbers."
Longer-term outlooks for the GOP are not good either, with a political analyst suggesting whoever succeeds the 47th POTUS as the Republican Party candidate for presidency will have to step out of Trump's shadow.
John F. Harris, writing in Politico, believes Trump's second term will be an incendiary topic which any successor must tackle.
He wrote, "Probably even a Republican successor, if it were someone other than Vice President JD Vance, would be ready to rhapsodize about NATO and join Democrats in saying how much we respect and want to work with allies.
"But no successor would want to risk political exposure at home by conducting anything that could be caricatured as an apology tour or relaxing Trump’s insistence that Europeans pay much more for their own defense."
