Last Sunday, ABC New/Ipsos released a poll showing that 56 percent of Americans want President Trump removed from office before the end of his term. But there are only four legal ways to do this.
The first is pressuring him to voluntarily resign. But no one seriously believes that Trump will resign.
The second is for Vice President Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment, whereby a majority vote of the Cabinet would declare the president unfit for office. But the vice president has ruled out doing this.
Another unlikely option that has emerged is pursuing Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. Those promoting this idea have focused on the language that would prohibit an individual who has taken an oath as an officer of the United States from holding any office if they “shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.” Most scholars agree that removal of the president using this approach is all but impossible since there is no language regarding removal from office.
The option that has gained the most traction is impeachment and removal. While it is quite likely that the House of Representatives will approve an article of impeachment this week, there is almost no chance of a Senate trial that removes the president from office before the end of his term on January 20.
Apparently, none of the standard legal methods of removing a president are likely to work, so it may be time to consider a more creative option, one that the United States has deployed successfully in the past.
Let’s go Noriega on Trump.
On December 20, 1989, the United States launched Operation Just Cause, invading Panama with a goal of forcing its president, Manuel Noriega, from office and ultimately capturing him to stand trial on drug trafficking charges. At the time, Noriega was facing indictments in the U.S. for drug trafficking and election rigging.
Capturing Noriega was a high priority of Just Cause, so much so that there was an operation within the operation, Nifty Package, to do just that. This operation destroyed Noriega’s private jet and heavily armed gunship, limiting his options for escape. Ultimately, Noriega sought refuge at the apostolic nunciature of the Holy See, the diplomatic quarters of the Vatican.
Some may remember that in the face of Noriega’s refusal to surrender, the U.S. military surrounded the nunciature and began blasting non-stop rock music, particularly heavy metal. As later reported by the BBC, “The troops’ playlist came care of the Southern Command Network, the US military radio in central America. It featured hits picked for their irony value, including I Fought The Law by The Clash, Panama by the stadium rock band Van Halen, U2’s All I Want Is You, and Bruce Cockburn’s If I Had A Rocket Launcher.”
The most complete collection of the Nifty Package playlist is on Spotify and includes 105 songs. It was only a matter of days after the music started blasting that Noriega surrendered.
So, what would be on a playlist that would force President Trump from office? His own tastes in music seem to be Frank Sinatra, Village People and country music, so here are some suggestions to really get under his skin.
“Irreplaceable” by Beyonce, with its ringing rejection of an egotistic man by a strong black woman, “So don’t you ever for a second get to thinking you’re irreplaceable,”
“FDT” by YG and Nipsey Hussle, the DT stands for Donald Trump and the F stands for how they feel about him.
“Duality” by Slipknot, because the throbbing crunch and aggression of this song reflects how angry people are about the Capitol assault.
“It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)” by Bob Dylan because “…even the president of the United States sometimes must have to stand naked.”
“Guilty” by Gravity Kills, to remind Trump of the legal troubles looming over him as he leaves office.
“Press Darlings” by Adam and the Ants, because Trump is no longer the media manipulator of 2016, his days of being able to change the media coverage in ten minutes with a Tweet are over.
“We Hate Trump” by Eminem — every word.
“This is America” by Childish Gambino, to remind Trump that it was Black voters who really knocked him out of the White House.
“F2020” by Avenue Beat, so Trump remembers how he presided over the worst year in modern American history and somehow managed to make it worse in 2021.
“Give the People What They Want” by the Kinks, because the majority want Trump gone immediately.
What songs did we miss? What would you put on your “Drive Donald Out of the White House” playlist? Add them in the comments below.
And c’mon, Chuck and Nancy. Find some money in the couch cushions to pay to surround the White House with giant speakers blasting Beyonce and Eminem.
Jeremy D. Mayer is an associate professor at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. David C. Williams is a distinguished visiting professor at the Schar School. He was previously inspector general at five federal agencies.