It is difficult to understand the reasons that led Americans to elect a president like Donald Trump. Between 2002 and 2004, I had the experience of meeting Trump in person, and once I flew to his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach. His style, manner and conversation did not make a good impression on me. So when he was elected president in 2016, I told myself that the Americans had made a serious mistake.
What happened yesterday at the Capitol did not surprise me. For four years, his attacks on the press, insults and arrogance marked his administration. However, this has given rise to many questions. Why wasn’t the Chapter protected? Where were the police forces, the security forces and the national guard? Why were the Chapter raiders white and some of them carrying the Confederate flag? I noticed the passivity of the police forces inside the Chapter and their small number.
The sight of Senator Josh Hawley walking toward the Capitol with his fist raised as he listened to the incendiary speeches of Rudy Giuliani and Donald Trump Jr. was puzzling. I wondered what the insurgents’ purpose was. Clearly, they tried to prevent Congress from certifying the results of the Electoral College that proclaimed Joe Biden the winner of the presidential election.
I heard the president-elect trying to calm and unify the nation. Donald Trump later reiterated that there was electoral fraud and publicly stated that he supported and loved the insurgents. In my opinion, that statement was a disgrace to that nation. In the hours that followed, there was a notable absence of political leadership and security forces. The facts told me that it was an insurrection promoted by President Donald Trump and a few close associates who, in one way or another, were looking for a way to strike a blow.
The reality in this case can be summarized as follows.
1- Trump pressured the vice president to exercise his power and not approve in the Senate the certification that he won Joe Biden.
2- Trump trained his followers to occupy the Chapter.
3- Trump refused to order the National Guard to go to the Capitol to remove the insurgents.
I do not know what the US leadership will do to avoid further damage to that country’s credibility and to prevent the situation from worsening. There are several scenarios that have been presented:
a- Invoke amendment 25 of the constitution and declare the president incapable of exercising his function. I don’t think this scenario is possible, because the cabinet and vice president Mike Pence would not approve it.
b- Make a political process (Prosecution) to the president through congress. I consider this option impractical because it would take a long time.
c- Try to isolate and restrict the actions that the president can carry out. This initiative would be very difficult to implement.
d- Convince or maybe force the president to resign. The latter is the most viable and perhaps the best option for Trump.
I’m worried about what might happen in the days left to replace Trump. He would be able to further complicate the political situation. In addition, it must be borne in mind that, as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, he has the code that would allow him to launch a nuclear attack. It is prudent to look at Trump as a desperate man right now, and so there is immense uncertainty about what else he can do.
US authorities and institutions must act quickly so that all those involved in these actions are punished in accordance with their laws. The reality is that power has deteriorated in the United States. That country which has served as a democratic model and which has established itself as a judge and as part of political processes in other countries and especially in Latin America; today it is what they themselves contemptuously called “banana republics.”
The author was the ambassador of the Dominican Republic to the United States of America