Donald Trump Wants To Change the 25th Amendment—Could He?

Donald Trump has said he wants to modify the 25th Amendment of the Constitution to allow for the removal of a vice president that “covers up” the commander-in-chief’s incapacity.
Speaking at a Saturday campaign rally in Mosinee, Wisconsin, the Republican presidential candidate accused his election rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, of covering up President Joe Biden’s mental fitness; Trump believes he is unfit for office.
“I will support modifying the 25th Amendment to make clear that if a vice president lies or engages in a conspiracy to cover up the incapacity of the president of the United States, if you do that with a cover-up of the president of the United States, it’s grounds for impeachment immediately and removal from office, because that’s what they did,” Trump said, as the crowd applauded.
“That’s what they did. You know, think of it, if he didn’t go to that debate, he’d still be running, still be running.”
The 25th Amendment, adopted in July 1965, fewer than two years after John F. Kennedy was assassinated, addresses issues about how a president could be removed from office, and who would succeed them if they died, were incapacitated, or were otherwise removed from office.
Trump’s own cabinet once considered removing him from office. In 2022, his former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told the January 6 Committee that he discussed invoking the 25th Amendment to remove the then president from power during a talk with former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in the wake of the 2021 riot at the Capitol.
Amending the 25th Amendment would be possible, but difficult, for Trump. The process is designed to ensure that changes are carefully considered and reflect broad consensus across the Union.
An amendment can be proposed either by a two-thirds vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, or by a national convention called for by two-thirds (34) of the state legislatures.
Once an amendment is proposed, it moves on to the states. Three quarters of the state legislatures (38 out of 50 states) must ratify the amendment for it to become part of the Constitution. States can also choose to ratify through special state conventions, though this method is rarely used.
A poll conducted for Newsweek after the June 27 election debate, but before Biden dropped out of the race, found that more 2020 Biden voters supported ousting him through the 25th Amendment than opposed the measure.
Harris has continued to defend Biden’s mental condition. In her first interview since the president ended his reelection bid, Harris told CNN’s Dana Bash that he was fit to serve.
“He is so smart and loyal to the American people. And I have spent hours upon hours with him, be it in the Oval Office or the Situation Room. He has the intelligence, the commitment, and the judgment and disposition that I think the American people rightly deserve in their president.”
Since Biden ended his reelection bid and endorsed Harris in July, Trump has attacked the vice president and the media, claiming they covered for the incumbent after his catastrophic performance in their first debate in June, although Trump has been calling for the president’s removal from office since at least September 2023.
“Biden doesn’t know he’s alive and she’s worse,” Trump said at the rally.
Trump’s call to alter the Constitution to allow Harris to be removed as vice president appears to be a modification of his previous talking point that the 25th should be used to remove Biden, the latest example of him retailoring material to focus on Harris now that she is his political opponent in the election.
In previous weeks, Trump has either replaced Biden’s name with Harris’ in identical talking points, (“Biden’s Department of Injustice” became “Harris and her Department of Justice”) or has used the two names interchangeably within the same sentence.
During his 90-minute in Wisconsin speech he mentioned Biden—Joe, Sleepy Joe, Joe Biden, Biden—22 times and referred to Harris—comrade Kamala, Kamala, Kamala Harris, Harris—16 times.
Newsweek has contacted the campaigns for Trump and Harris for comment via email outside normal working hours.