Trump v. Lincoln

Posted on | January 22, 2026 | 3 Comments

Mike Magee

In the early days of 2026, we Americans find ourselves confronted by three undeniable realities: an obviously impaired President in his second term, a vaulted democracy with checks and balances that are struggling to rise to the autocratic challenge, and an ICE army of state invaders which appears ready to trigger a second Civil War. In short, conditions of distress for the American Democracy have radically escalated.

During the first Trump administration, there was serious debate over the use of the 25th Amendment to deal with the “Trump Problem.” On May 16, 2017, New York Times conservative columnist, Russ Douthat, wrote “The 25th Amendment Solution for Removing Trump.”

Let’s look at four archived slides from the 2017 lecture, and then discuss our current options in the case of 2026 Trump against Democracy.

Slide 1. Russ Douthat

In 2017, Scott Bomboy, chief of the National Constitution Center, wrote:

“Section 4 is the most controversial part of the 25th Amendment: It allows the Vice President and either the Cabinet, or a body approved ‘by law’ formed by Congress, to jointly agree that ‘the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.’ This clause was designed to deal with a situation where an incapacitated President couldn’t tell Congress that the Vice President needed to act as President.”

Had our leaders followed Russ Douthat’s advice nine years ago, it is highly unlikely that a 2/3rds majority of both chambers of Congress would have had their back. Instead, they went for Impeachment and failed, as Republicans chose rather to let voters decide. And they did, in 2020. Few likely envisioned that a malignant defeated candidate would launch a January 6th insurrection, embolden white nationalists militia (now ICE) across the nation, and follow thru on threats to run and win a 2nd term in 2024.

The 25th Amendment is no more a solution today than it was in 2017. Instead citizens loyal to our form of government rely in 2026 on two protective backstops:

Our third pillar of government – The Courts (most especially the Supreme Court.)
The voter, whose second day of reckoning fast approaches with the Mid-Term elections only 10 months away. In the interim, we now must physically engage and resist at every turn.

Some believe we are once again engaged in a great Civil War. In its’ summary of the Gettysburg Address, National Geographic states that “Despite (or perhaps because of) its brevity, since (Abraham Lincoln’s) speech was delivered, it has come to be recognized as one of the most powerful statements in the English language and, in fact, one of the most important expressions of freedom and liberty in any language.”

The last paragraph of that two minute speech, delivered now 162 years and two months ago, reminds us that Renee Nicole Good and other Americans are now dying on “a new battlefield” defending our democratic government against a home bred army. Lincoln’s words today are more relevant than ever.

As described by historians, Lincoln made it clear that the stakes could not have been higher, well before Trump’s mobilization of ICE or his efforts to destroy NATO this week. The battle in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, and now in states throughout our nation, simply mirrors the struggle for “a new birth of freedom” with “equality for all.”

As they were spoken, November 19, 1863, here are Lincoln’s final words, ones that deserve a most careful reading: “It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Comments

3 Responses to “Trump v. Lincoln”

Mike Magee
January 22nd, 2026 @ 11:28 am

For Renee Good: “we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain…”
David Meyers
January 22nd, 2026 @ 11:54 am

Brilliant reminder of the stakes and the solution, but to assume we will have elections in November seems iffy at the moment. And the judiciary, SCOTUS and lower courts, are not a sure thing by any means.
Mike Magee
January 22nd, 2026 @ 4:38 pm

Thanks, David, for raising these caution lights. To say our national situation remains fluid and uncertain is an enormous understatement. But I still believe that the odds are (slightly) in our favor that Lincoln will prevail over Trump. Happy New Year!