Can Donald Trump run again in 2024? Why Colorado’s Supreme Court removed him from the ballot and what happens next
Be in no doubt, to remove a candidate from an election ballot, a former president no less – it is a quite remarkable moment.
A reality check first. There is a way to go here. Appeals will now come against a decision that is as controversial as it is unusual.
What’s been decided?
In November, a district court judge in Colorado tasked with judging Donald Trump’s eligibility as a candidate in the state ruled that Trump had engaged in insurrection during the 6 January Capitol riots but that presidents are not subject to Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, the so-called Disqualification Clause, because presidents are not “officers of the United States”.
Last night though, the Colorado Supreme Court, made up of judges appointed by Democratic governors, agreed that Trump had engaged in insurrection, but it rejected the district court’s finding that the president is not an officer of the country that elected him.
And so his name has been removed from the state ballot.
Of course, as it stands, that doesn’t stop the former president from running again across the rest of the US.
What is the 14th Amendment?
The ruling centres around an interpretation of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the United States constitution. Written after the Civil War, it was designed to prevent Confederates from becoming president.
It bars any person from holding federal or state office who took an “oath… to support the Constitution of the United States” and who has then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof”.
What now?
So what next? Well, Donald Trump has said already that he will appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States in Washington – the nation’s top judges who are weighted in his favour thanks to appointments he made as president.
The US Supreme Court is not obliged to take the case on but it’s very likely that it will.
A key legal argument will be whether the judgment in Colorado is seen as a political opinion – a political decision by a liberal state court as Trump believes it is – or whether it is a judgment based solely on constitutional law.
The judges will consider whether it’s appropriate to take Mr Trump off the ballot without a criminal conviction – remember that he has not been convicted of insurrection, though he was impeached for it.
They may also consider the fact that the 14th Amendment doesn’t explicitly name the position president, though it does say “any person”.
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How significant is Colorado in the national race for president?
Not very. Trump lost the state in 2016 and still won the presidency back then.
The polls this coming year are pointing to another victory in Colorado for Joe Biden’s Democratic Party.
Things will change, though, if other states also remove Mr Trump from their ballots.
So could other states follow a precedent set by Colorado?
It depends on what the US Supreme Court decides. If it upholds the ruling made by the Colorado Supreme Court then, yes, other states could follow and the Mr Trump’s dominoes could begin to fall.
But, courts in Minnesota and Michigan have rejected similar legal efforts to disqualify him from running.
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When could the US Supreme Court rule on this?
Assuming the US Supreme Court does take up the case, it’s thought its judges will need to rule on it in the next few weeks.
The Colorado court order doesn’t come into effect until 4 January.
The following day Colorado prints its ballots – with or without Donald Trump’s name on it.
What are the implications for America’s fractious politics?
Huge, in a word. Mr Trump’s supporters in Colorado will argue that they have been disenfranchised because they would be unable to vote for their candidate.
They will ask: Is it right that a court should remove voters’ ability to vote for someone?
Expect his supporters to be further enraged by what they see as an establishment plot to remove their man.
Notably, Mr Trump’s Republican competitors, who would clearly benefit from his removal, are arguing the people, not judges, should decide who should be president.
Even some Democrats are already asking if this is really the best way to beat Trump.
Even if it is a constitutional issue, wouldn’t they be better off trying to beat him at the ballot box?
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
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This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
A farmer who fell from a greenhouse roof during an anti-immigrant raid at a licensed cannabis facility in California this week has died of his injuries.
Jaime Alanis, 57, is the first person to die as a result of Donald Trump’s Immigration Compliance and Enforcement (ICE) raids.
His niece, Yesenia Duran, posted on the fundraising site GoFundMe to say her uncle was his family’s only provider and he had been sending his earnings back to his wife and daughter in Mexico.
The United Food Workers said Mr Alanis had worked on the farm for 10 years.
“These violent and cruel federal actions terrorise American communities, disrupt the American food supply chain, threaten lives and separate families,” the union said in a recent statement on X.
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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it executed criminal search warrants at Glass House Farms facilities on Thursday.
Mr Alanis called family to say he was hiding and possibly fleeing agents before he fell around 30ft (9m) from the roof and broke his neck, according to information from family, hospital and government sources.
Agents arrested 200 people suspected of being in the country illegally and identified at least 10 immigrant children on the sites, the DHS said in a statement.
Mr Alanis was not among them, the agency said.
“This man was not in and has not been in CBP (Customs and Border Protection) or ICE custody,” DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin said.
“Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a greenhouse and fell 30ft. CBP immediately called a medivac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible.”
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Four US citizens were arrested during the incident for allegedly “assaulting or resisting officers”, the DHS said, and authorities were offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a person suspected of firing a gun at federal agents.
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In a statement, Glass House, a licensed Cannabis grower, said immigration agents had valid warrants. It said workers were detained and it is helping provide them with legal representation.
“Glass House has never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors,” it added.
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
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Will Trump address parliament on UK state visit?
This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
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