# Donald Trump \[what will it take to force him to resign?\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [December 23, 2018, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-what-will-it-take-to-force-him-to-resign/826578 "2018-12-23T18:59:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2018, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-what-will-it-take-to-force-him-to-resign/826578/21 "2018-12-24T21:39:05Z")
Not the people, but Don Jr. and Ivanka facing jail time for their many illegal actions involving the company and the Trump Foundation might do it. Maybe. I wouldn’t put throwing his children under the bus past him. On the other hand if Putin thinks Pence would be more useful as president going into the 2020 campaign, the piss tape might appear. That could do it. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2018, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-what-will-it-take-to-force-him-to-resign/826578/22 "2018-12-24T22:43:54Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > His historically low poll numbers were probably somewhat boosted by the perception that the Trump economy was strong. … I think you’re right about this. Even if about half of the US population doesn’t own stocks, the bad news will permeate the atmosphere so fully that even Fox News watchers will learn about it—and we’ll see a dip of Trump’s favorability to the mid-30s. (Around 35%, I think, is the hard nugget of ‘white supremacists’ plus ‘people who voted for Trump and are incapable of admitting they made a mistake,’ minus the overlap between the two.) > [@Voyager](#): > > Not the people, but Don Jr. and Ivanka facing jail time for their many illegal actions involving the company and the Trump Foundation might do it. > Maybe. I wouldn’t put throwing his children under the bus past him. > … Oh, if the choice is ‘implicate Don, Jr. and thereby escape punishment yourself’ or ‘stand firm in protecting Don, Jr.,’ then Don, Jr. had better hope he looks good in orange. He is toast. I don’t think Donald would sacrifice himself for Eric or even for Ivanka, either. But they are less likely to be in the line of fire, or less likely to be plausible as fall guys for their father. Don, Jr. is fall-guy-ready. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2018, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-what-will-it-take-to-force-him-to-resign/826578/23 "2018-12-25T01:07:20Z")
> [@Ancient\_Erudite](#): > > 270 electoral college votes in 2020. And maybe not even then. He will howl about millions of illegal voters, go to court to delay and the 5 Republicans on the court might even agree with him. Meantime, there will be inauguration and Trump stay on during the litigation. Granted that this is an extreme speculation, but he has done so much that no other candidate (not even Nixon) or president has ever done. He breaks all the norms. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2018, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-what-will-it-take-to-force-him-to-resign/826578/24 "2018-12-25T01:59:14Z")
To the OP, for Trump to resign, he has to have iron clad guarantees that he and his family (which may only extend to DJT), that he won’t be held accountable for jack shit. 25th amendment solution if his cabinet grows a pair. These be dangerous times poking a bear with a stick. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2018, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-what-will-it-take-to-force-him-to-resign/826578/25 "2018-12-25T04:23:54Z")
Agreed that he’d only resign if it was clear even to him that the alternative was impeachment with conviction and prosecution and a pardon was promised in return. I don’t want him leaving with a pardon, so I don’t want him resigning. What would it take to make impeachment and conviction otherwise inevitable? Bill Clinton survived impeachment because he was presiding over a growing economy; Nixon was doomed before impeachment because the economy was contracting. Honestly we are due for a contraction no matter who is at the helm, but if the current market slump (the last quarter erasing about 18 months of gains, now about 20% off its peak in September) is the beginning of it, then it will be amplified by what Trump has done to the world marketplace. Hopefully it won’t be as bad as I fear and will recover once he is gone, but high crimes, no matter what proof is shown, won’t be enough until he is perceived as having presided over the end of the long growth cycle that started under Obama. New Year’s Eve 2015 the S&P closed at 2043.94. We are now only 300 points above that. If the S&P ends this year near that, erasing all of the gains of the past two years, and all of what follows that follows that? Then his supporters are against Trump and have always been against Trump never liked him and never did. If the market stabilizes or bounces back up some then he’ll keep his solid support among those who still call themselves Republican voters and he is safe until voted out. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2018, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-what-will-it-take-to-force-him-to-resign/826578/26 "2018-12-25T04:36:33Z")
My guess? Change his party affiliation to Democrat. THAT would cause a mass jettisoning of his voter base. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2018, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-what-will-it-take-to-force-him-to-resign/826578/27 "2018-12-25T21:57:55Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > My guess? Change his party affiliation to Democrat. THAT would cause a mass jettisoning of his voter base. Changing his affiliation to Democratic wouldn’t bother them. Changing his affiliation to “Black Lives Matter”…now _that_ would lose him his base. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2018, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-what-will-it-take-to-force-him-to-resign/826578/28 "2018-12-25T22:02:42Z")
A few scenarios. Something, someone, convinces him it’s gonna be the only way to stay out of prison. Pence can at least pardon him from federal crimes, but he has a number of states breathing down his neck. The economy tanks and his money men convince him to get out. Putin tells him to resign. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-what-will-it-take-to-force-him-to-resign/826578/29 "2018-12-26T01:06:45Z")
Back when he was elected, I predicted he’d end up in a “quaint little dachau on the Danube”. I really think he’s paranoid enough, and so scared of public humiliation, that he’ll end up ditching the office and maybe the country. If Erdogan or Putin offered him a cushy retirement\*… he’d sneak out before he or his kids went to jail. \*or better yet, a chance to live in and continue to develop his resort on the Black Sea … or across the water in Краснодар. Yeah, kind of a version of **enipla** ’s scenarios. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-what-will-it-take-to-force-him-to-resign/826578/30 "2018-12-26T01:30:45Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Back when he was elected, I predicted he’d end up in a “quaint little dachau on the Danube”. I’m no philatelist but it seems like you may want to revisit at least one of the words in that sentence. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-what-will-it-take-to-force-him-to-resign/826578/31 "2018-12-26T01:32:50Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Back when he was elected, I predicted he’d end up in a “quaint little dachau on the Danube”. Did you mean ‘dacha’? I’ve been to Dachau, and it was near Munich. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-what-will-it-take-to-force-him-to-resign/826578/32 "2018-12-26T02:21:29Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > To the OP, for Trump to resign, he has to have iron clad guarantees that he and his family (which may only extend to DJT), that he won’t be held accountable for jack shit. This. And not just for federal crimes. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-what-will-it-take-to-force-him-to-resign/826578/33 "2018-12-26T04:59:46Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Back when he was elected, I predicted he’d end up in a “quaint little dachau on the Danube”. > [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Did you mean ‘dacha’? I’ve been to Dachau, and it was near Munich. Been there too, and it wasn’t quaint either. But the Danube doesn’t run through Russia. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-what-will-it-take-to-force-him-to-resign/826578/34 "2018-12-26T05:22:33Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > He’ll never resign. 2020, the nation will have to remove him OR he’ll have to not run for re-election. > > He has a couple “Trumpish” excuses for not running again. (I still firmly believe his ending up President was totally a mistake; he was just doing publicity). > > 1. Claim they “made America great” and encourage everyone to vote Pence to keep things great. > 2. Complain that the whole system is so unfair, he never had a fair shot. > > I think he can’t help himself and will run again.\*\* I think he’ll lose even worse than the first time.\*\* In fact, he really should avoid running to avoid the situation. I just don’t think he has “not running” in him. He loves the campaigning. Emphasis mine. What does this mean? He \*won \*the first time. And don’t give me that malarkey about “he lost the popular vote” because we don’t \*have \*a popular vote. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-what-will-it-take-to-force-him-to-resign/826578/35 "2018-12-26T05:30:25Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > I’m no philatelist but it seems like you may want to revisit at least one of the words in that sentence. Oops! Meant “dacha”, and then just used Danube for the alliteration. And, did you purposely use the wrong word to point out I used the wrong word? If so, ‘philatelist’ was brilliant. If not, ironic. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-what-will-it-take-to-force-him-to-resign/826578/36 "2018-12-26T05:31:28Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > Emphasis mine. What does this mean? He \*won \*the first time. And don’t give me that malarkey about “he lost the popular vote” because we don’t \*have \*a popular vote. We do have a popular vote. It just doesn’t count. Little Donnie Fail-Fail is seriously butt-hurt that he lost the popular vote. The fact is that 2.8 million more people voted for his opponent. He can’t stand that; so much so, that he tells his sheep lies (‘Those were all illegal aliens!’) to justify it. So to speak for **Mahaloth** (without authority to do so), what it means is this: Not only will Little Donnie Fail-Fail lose the election, he will lose it by a lot more than three million votes. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-what-will-it-take-to-force-him-to-resign/826578/37 "2018-12-26T05:44:12Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > We do have a popular vote. It just doesn’t count. Little Donnie Fail-Fail is seriously butt-hurt that he lost the popular vote. The fact is that 2.8 million more people voted for his opponent. He can’t stand that; so much so, that he tells his sheep lies (‘Those were all illegal aliens!’) to justify it. > > So to speak for **Mahaloth** (without authority to do so), what it means is this: Not only will Little Donnie Fail-Fail lose the election, he will lose it by a lot more than three million votes. If we had a popular vote, both candidates would have adjusted their strategies to \*win \*that popular vote. But since we have an electoral college vote, they optimize their strategies to win that electoral college vote. It’s as simple as that. Saying that the candidate with the fewest raw votes “lost” the election is like saying that a football team with five field goals should beat an opponent with four touchdowns because they had “more scores.” You play to win by the rules of the game, not by some imaginary other set of rules after the fact. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-what-will-it-take-to-force-him-to-resign/826578/38 "2018-12-26T05:56:20Z")
I would love for 45 to end up in a “quaint little dachau on the Danube”, as long as it’s a little Dachau concentration camp. ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-what-will-it-take-to-force-him-to-resign/826578/39 "2018-12-26T10:25:47Z")
Criminal-level coercion. ---
**Author:** ![senoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@senoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/senoy)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-what-will-it-take-to-force-him-to-resign/826578/40 "2018-12-26T13:15:00Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > The markets today are basically saying that they’re starting to lose faith in Trump to do anything right. The markets should be eating up unemployment at 50 year lows and wage increases; instead they’re wondering what this moron will do next. That’s not necessarily true. High wages and low unemployment can depress corporate profits and thus lower stock prices. It’s not completely cut and dried, but as a general rule, the stock market cares about the owners of capital and not the producers except in their role as consumers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-what-will-it-take-to-force-him-to-resign/826578.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-what-will-it-take-to-force-him-to-resign/826578.md?page=3)