Five ways Americans could fire Donald Trump

After Donald Trump's Twitter rants, North Korean threats and increasingly erratic speeches, even the former US director of national intelligence has gone public, calling Trump's speech in Arizona on Tuesday "downright disturbing and scary".

"I worry about, frankly, the access to the nuclear codes," James Clapper, who served under Barack Obama, told CNN.

So too do many other Americans, some of whom are actively investigating how Trump might be removed from office. Here are the options:

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Pass a law

A Democratic Congressman from Maryland, Jamie Raskin, is urging colleagues to get behind a bill that could be used to oust the President in the event Trump's declared mentally or physically unfit. Raskin wants an "Oversight Commission on Presidential Capacity", essentially an 11-member commission made up of doctors, psychiatrists and possibly former presidents, to assess whether Donald Trump and his successors are physically and mentally fit to lead the country.

Chances of success: A long-shot effort, but the spirit of Raskin's idea is embodied by the 25th Amendment of the Constitution (see below).

Use the 25th Amendment

Adopted in 1967 after John F. Kennedy was assassinated, the 25th Amendment establishes a procedure for removing an incapacitated president. The impairment could be mental as well as physical, the Huffington Post suggests. However, it can only be invoked by the Vice President, Mike Pence, and would have to be supported by a majority of Trump's cabinet.

Chances of success: Unlikely. Pence has so far been highly supportive of Trump, as has the rest of his cabinet.

Impeachment

Brad Sherman, a Democratic Congressman from California, filed impeachment articles against the President in July. Sherman accuses Trump of obstructing US investigations into Russia's influence on the 2006 US election. The four-page resolution was co-sponsored by Al Green, a Texas Democrat. To remove Trump from office, a simple majority of the House of Representatives would have to impeach him and then a two-thirds majority of the Senate convict him of high crimes and misdemeanours.

Chances of success: Could go either way. On the positive side, Congress doesn't need evidence of actual treason or murder to push impeachment forward. "Practically anything can be considered a 'high crime or misdemeanour'," Foreign Policy magazine says. On the negative side, even Sherman admits it is "the first step on a very long road" and there's no indication his resolution has gained traction yet.

Military coup

Retired four-star Marine Corps general John Kelly, who took over as White House chief of staff, is not afraid to "distance himself from some of Mr Trump's more hardline positions", such as the proposed ban on Muslims entering the US, the Daily Telegraph says. But a military coup?

Chances of success: Minimal. While Trump may be erratic, it is difficult to imagine that Kelly - or any of the US top military leaders - would conspire against a serving President. Then again, military officers swear to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, not the President. If Trump were to order an invasion of Mexico, or tell the military to send all Muslim Americans to Guantanamo, Foreign Policy says the unthinkable might become thinkable.

Michael Moore's 10-point plan

US filmmaker Michael Moore has published a 10-point guide to making the Republican leader "toast again", The Independent reports.

Moore reminds Americans that the local Congressmen "work for us" and Moore suggests calling every day to drive home the point. "These politicians freak out if they get just ten calls on an issue. Imagine them getting 10,000! Holy crap – the dome will pop off that building!"

Chances of success: Debatable. As part of the 10-point plan, Moore also encouraged Americans to run for office to create lasting change in the political system. And, if all else fails, Moore advises Americans to stop complaining about the media and instead become the media - giving Trump a dose of his own Twitter medicine: "Yes, I’m talking to you, Baby Boomers. Get over it, put down your postage stamps and your 'TV clicker' and find a six-year old to show you how to start tweeting."