The first case for impeaching Trump is simple. Congress should draw up two articles of Impeachment under Article II Section 4:
Article I - Declaring War Without Congressional Authorization
Article I Section 8 of the Constitution places the power to declare war with Congress alone. This power has not been exercised properly since WW2, ironically by the quasi-dictator FDR, as our Republic continues its descent into Empire, but generally there has been at least some fig leaf deployed:
The worst legal justification was probably employed by President Truman, who justified the Korean War as a UN action, forgetting he was the President of the United States and not the UN. He’s currently burning in Hell for his murders in Hiroshima and Nagasaki though, so we won’t be too harsh on him here.
Vietnam had the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and the Iraq Wars had congressional authorization. These are different from declaring war in that
1. A Declaration of War is inherently defensive, as you declare that a State of War exists, rather than authorizing executive actions by a quasi-Emperor and
2. They blur the line between the President, the Chief Executive, using the Army to end the war, and instead vaguely authorizing the President to use the troops to accomplish his objectives. The later is much more Imperial rather than Republican.
There have of course been many other military actions by the United States throughout the rest of the 20th century, but the war against Iran is perhaps the more flagrant flaunting of the Imperial Presidency since Truman - a clearly offensive war started by the President without congressional authorization.
President Trump should be impeached in an attempt to restore some vitality to the Republic, to reign in the Imperial Presidency, which should fear so blatant an usurpation of power from the Congress in Declaring War.
Article II - Using the United States Military on Behalf of a Foreign Power
“Europe has a set of primary interests, which to us have none, or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns... it is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world” - George Washington in his Farewell Address
We have long abandoned our traditional American Foreign Policy of non-interventionism, again as part of our decline as a people and descent from Republic into Empire. But it’s easy to see the relevance of Washington’s wisdom to our present situation - If you have an alliance with a country, you may be entangled into conflicts and controversies which are of no concern to you as a country.
Regime change in Iran is clearly in the interests of Israel, which views the Iranian regime as an existential threat. What concern is that of ours? What do we get from this war? Iranian missiles cannot reach the United States. Why should Americans pay higher gas prices, waste our military might, and sacrifice American lives to accomplish an Israeli geopolitical goal? Was that what we voted for in 2024, or what we specifically voted against? I thought we were getting mass deportations, not Iranian refugees.
We should have a public debate over the extent to which this war is for the benefit of the American People vs. a Foreign Power. If Israel is the Junior Partner in our alliance, then why does it seem like they drug us into war last year? I don’t recall getting a say in Israel attacking Iran, so why are our actions dictated by them, rather that them being constrained by us?
Secretary of State Marco Rubio wasn’t misspeaking when he said this war was launched on behalf of Israel. President Trump openly states that now.
If that’s the case and the parties themselves admit it, if it is in fact true that this war is being fought primarily on behalf of a Foreign Power, at the behest of a Foreign Lobby, well then this is all very simple. An alliance is primarily for the benefit of our country. Treason is when it’s primarily for the benefit of another country.
The President of the United States’s chief duty is to the American people, and if he’s forgotten that he should be reminded and removed from office. We can find someone else who remembers which country they’re the President of.
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