President Donald Trump finally met Vice President Mike Pence on Monday for the first time since rioters stormed the US Capitol last week.
The meeting became crucial as Democrats increase efforts to impeach Trump.
The meeting in the Oval Office — described as “a good conversation” by a senior official — came ahead of a critical 48-hour period when Pence will come under pressure to break from the president and initiate his removal.
Just eight days before his term ends, and nearly a week after a failed insurrection scarred the seat of America’s democracy, Trump heads to Texas on Tuesday in one of his final trips as president, desperate to reach friendlier territory so he can tout his administration’s successes.
In Washington, though, he is the target of efforts to remove him from power, including a historic second impeachment, this time for “incitement of insurrection” over his supporters’ deadly breach of the Capitol building.
First, the House of Representatives will vote Tuesday on a longshot bid to get Pence and the cabinet to invoke the US Constitution’s 25th Amendment, which would declare Trump unfit to perform his duties and install Pence as acting president.
Pence’s meeting with Trump appeared to quash any prospects of that outcome.
The two men “reiterated that those who broke the law and stormed the Capitol last week do not represent the America First movement backed by 75 million Americans, and pledged to continue the work on behalf of the country for the remainder of their term,” the official said.
Democrats will then follow up with impeachment proceedings, including a House vote expected Wednesday.
The move which threatens to torpedo any hopes of a political future for Trump — could make for a tense culmination of four years of controversy ahead of Joe Biden’s January 20 inauguration.