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What Is the 25th Amendment?
The 25th Amendment was ratified in 1967, in the aftermath of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. It was instituted to prepare for medical emergencies and incapacitation that could prevent a president from performing normal duties.
The Amendment has four sections.
Section 1 says that if a president dies, resigns or is removed from office, the vice president becomes president.
Section 2 notes that if there is a vacancy in the vice president’s office, the president shall nominate a stand-in who shall take office after being confirmed by a majority vote in both chambers of Congress.
Section 3 allows a president to temporarily hand over power by sending a written declaration to the House speaker and the Senate’s president pro tempore, saying he is unable to perform his duties. The vice president then becomes acting president until the president sends another written declaration, saying he is able to resume the job. This section has been invoked when the president undergoes medical procedures.
Finally, Section 4 allows the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet to declare in writing that the president is unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office, making the vice president the acting president. If the president contests that declaration, Congress must decide the issue. The president remains sidelined only if two-thirds of both the House and Senate vote that he is unable to serve. Congress has 21 days to reach a decision once the question is formally before it.
Trump’s Letter Renews Talk
President Donald Trump’s letter to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre about acquiring Greenland has sparked pushback from his critics, bringing renewed attention to the 25th Amendment and how a president could be removed without impeachment.
Newsweek spoke with experts about the amendment and the likelihood that it could be used to remove Donald Trump as president.
Why It Matters
Trump sent a letter to Støre in which he reiterated that the U.S. needed “Complete and Total Control of Greenland,” and wrote that he “no longer feel[s] an obligation to think purely of Peace.” He also noted that Norway did not award Trump the Nobel Peace Prize, a decision made by the independent Norwegian Nobel Committee rather than the Norwegian government.
Following the letter and Støre’s response, some Democrats have called for invoking the 25th Amendment, which allows members of the president’s Cabinet to legally remove him from office if they do not believe he is fit to lead.
Since returning to office exactly one year ago, Trump has escalated rhetoric about the United States potentially annexing Greenland, an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark that is home to the U.S. space base at Pituffik. He has argued that the Arctic island is critical for U.S. security, and the White House has declined to rule out using the military to acquire the territory.
The U.S. and Denmark are both members of NATO, protected by the alliance’s Article 5, which holds that an attack on one is an attack on all. Experts have warned that a U.S. military assault on another NATO state would rip apart the alliance.
What Does Invoking the 25th Amendment Look Like?
“There are both political and legal problems with efforts to invoke the 25th Amendment,” University of Maryland, Baltimore law professor Mark Graber told Newsweek in an email Tuesday.
“The legal problem is that the 25th Amendment was designed to deal with a medically incapacitated president, for example, a president who is unconscious or unable to physically perform the duties of the office,” he continued, “We might imagine a mentally ill president whose beliefs are so fantastic that he or she can no longer perform the job, but President Trump is not suffering from that form of psychosis.”
Graber argued that Trump’s platform and characteristics are “political disqualifications for the office of the presidency,” but noted that “the American people disagreed in 2024.”
Ultimately, he argued, “A fair case can be made that President Trump’s actions are impeachable, but that is a different part of the Constitution and suffers from the same political problem.”
Several Democrats, such as Representatives Yassamin Ansari and Sydney Kamlager-Dove, as well as Senator Ed Markey, have called for the invocation of the amendment following Trump’s message to the Norwegian prime minister.
Michigan State University College of Law professor Brian Kalt told Newsweek that “It seems unlikely to me that the VP and Cabinet will look at Trump’s message to Støre as crossing a line. Many people thought that Trump crossed that line a long ago, but it isn’t up to them, it is up to the people in the president’s inner orbit.”
However, he noted that Trump’s cabinet is “more aware than the general public is of how a president is functioning. If they think he has gotten to the point where he can’t function anymore, they are supposed to ‘pull the cord,’ so to speak.”
What People Are Saying
Representative Yassamin Ansari, an Arizonan Democrat, said in an X post: “The president of the United States is extremely mentally ill and it’s putting all of our lives at risk. The 25th Amendment exists for a reason—we need to invoke it immediately.”
Representative Sydney Kamlager-Dove, a California Democrat, said in a January 19 X post: “Donald Trump is unfit to lead and clearly out of control. Invoke the 25th Amendment.”
Senator Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, said in a Monday X post: “Invoke the 25th Amendment.”
Democratic political commentator Harry Sisson said in an X post: “It’s 1 am and Trump is awake posting AI images of him taking over Greenland. This is where we are as a country. 25TH AMENDMENT NOW!!!”
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said in a statement on Monday: “Norway’s position on Greenland is clear. Greenland is a part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and Norway fully supports the Kingdom of Denmark on this matter. We also support that NATO in a responsible way is taking steps to strengthen security and stability in the Arctic. As regards the Nobel Peace Prize, I have clearly explained, including to President Trump what is well known, the prize is awarded by an independent Nobel Committee and not the Norwegian Government.”
Representative Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican, said last week: “If he [Trump] went through with the threats, I think it would be the end of his presidency. And he needs to know: The off-ramp is realizing Republicans aren’t going to tolerate this and he’s going to have to back off. He hates being told no, but in this case, I think Republicans need to be firm.”
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday in Davos: “Let’s not accept a global order which will be decided by those who claim to have, I would say, the bigger voice or the bigger stick.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday, per the Associated Press: “Now it’s not the Collective West writing the rules but just one of its representatives. It’s a major upheaval for Europe, and we are watching it. The Euro-Atlantic concept of ensuring security and cooperation has discredited itself.”
U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social on January 17: “We have subsidized Denmark, and all of the Countries of the European Union, and others, for many years by not charging them Tariffs, or any other forms of remuneration. Now, after Centuries, it is time for Denmark to give back—World Peace is at stake! China and Russia want Greenland, and there is not a thing that Denmark can do about it. … Nobody will touch this sacred piece of Land, especially since the National Security of the United States, and the World at large, is at stake.”
What Happens Next
Trump is set to speak in Davos on Wednesday, where global leaders have been pushing back against his Greenland claims. His newly announced tariffs on European countries backing Denmark are set to go into effect on February 1.
While the 25th Amendment appears unlikely to be invoked [this is her opinion], Trump could still face impeachment pressure later on the matter, including from within his own party. Representative Bacon warned last week that moving to take Greenland by force could prompt impeachment efforts.
Liberal Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), who faces a Democratic primary challenger this year, is calling for President Trump to be removed from power under the 25th Amendment after Trump acknowledged he would be less likely to pressure Denmark to give up Greenland had he won the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize.
“Invoke the 25th Amendment,” Markey posted on social media along with an image of a New York Times article reporting Trump linked his push for Greenland to not winning the Nobel Prize in a text message to Norwegian leader Jonas Gahr Støre.
Trump thinks he’s Jehovah God, Yahweh. Ahh I don’t think so. I voted for Trump but, I think he’s lost his mind and way. I’ll never vote for him again! Thank God he’ll be out of the US Presidency in less than 3 years. He uses his power to a degree that makes him look foolish and insulting to his members of Congress and US House of Representatives leave alone other governments in other countries and their staff! He’s a businessman that wants to turn America into one big business and he really knows nothing about our US government and how it operates to a degree. I find him degrading, humiliating, unkind, unloving, inhumane and an abomination to planet earth! Period. I have nothing else to say except he might be led by satan instead of God! And that is chilling and scary. ?