Former US Diplomats say Trump is a ‘Danger’ to the US

With less than two weeks to the end of the Trump administration, there have been calls from us Lawmakers for the resignation or impeachment of President Donald Trump. This followed after Wednesday’s violent attack by Trump supporters on the Capitol building while President-elect Joe Biden was being certified.

Two former American diplomats have openly declared that Trump is a “danger” to the country as long as he remains in office. Trump’s term in office will officially come to an end on January 20 and Joe Biden will be sworn into office. Following Wednesday’s events, questions have emerged over whether or not Trump should be removed from office before that day.

“I think what we learned yesterday – which many of us have felt for a number of months is that every day that Donald Trump is on Office is a danger to our country,” said Kirk Wagar, U.S. ambassador to Singapore from 2013 to 2017. “This is where our competitors – those countries who want to do us harm – really have a moment to strike.”

Wagar is currently the chair of consultancy Wagar Global Advisors.

Late Thursday, Trump finally accepted defeat and conceded to Biden. However, he still holds that he does not accept the election results but promises an “orderly” transition of power. Wednesday’s event has caused many of Trump administration officials to resign.

Wagar’s sentiment was shared by Gary Locke, former US ambassador to China from 2011 to 2014. He said President Trump is “completely off-kilter and is a danger to the country.”

“He does not need to go, the question is whether or not using the 25th Amendment would really work,” Locke said, making reference to the Constitution which permits the vice president – with support from the cabinet majority – to remove a sitting president.

Locke also served as the former commerce secretary and ex-governor of Washington state. He added that any process to remove President Trump may take much time.

“I think it may be equally effective if the members of his administration simply ignore him and make sure that they’re not carrying out any orders that he may have that would be very injurious to the national security and to the interests of America,” Locked added.

After Wednesday’s incident, there have been growing calls from former and current US officials including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to oust Trump.

Pelosi and Schumer have said Congress may proceed with the impeachment of Trump if Vice President Mike Pence and the cabinet do not use the 25th Amendment to remove him. If none of the two options is possible, the third option would be to “wait out” the next 12 days, according to Lisa Manheim, a law professor at the University of Washington.