President Trump is not considering resigning from office before Inauguration Day, according to two senior administration sources.
While Democrats prepare impeachment proceedings, several conservative voices have called on Trump to walk away for the good of the country amid the bitter fallout of Wednesday’s assault on the United States Capitol by his supporters.
However, a senior administration official said there had been no discussion of resignation and there was no chance that Trump would cut his term short. “Zero,” he said.
Trump has remained largely out of sight since Wednesday as resignations and recriminations battered his administration. He distanced himself from the mob with a video statement on Thursday evening condemning their actions, but the pressure has not yet eased.
Democrats are expected to introduce articles of impeachment as soon as Monday in a long-shot effort to remove the president from office. They have also called on Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from power.
At the same time, Trump faces anger on his own side for urging his supporters to march on Congress and failing to condemn them for more than 24 hours.
Lisa Murkowski became the first Republican senator to call for his early exit.
“I want him to resign. I want him out,” she told the Anchorage Daily News. “He has caused enough damage.”
She followed the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal, a bellwether of conservative opinion, which accused the president of “an assault on the constitutional process of transferring power.”
“If Mr. Trump wants to avoid a second impeachment, his best path would be to take personal responsibility and resign,” the Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper wrote.
That would allow the country to maintain control over his fate and protect the country from a power vacuum.
“This might also stem the flood of White House and Cabinet resignations that are understandable as acts of conscience but could leave the government dangerously unmanned,” it concluded.
The White House did not respond to requests for comment.
