Why It May Be Impossible to Disqualify Trump From the Presidency
The crucial question: Does the “disqualification” language in the Constitution’s 14th Amendment apply to a candidate seeking the presidency?
Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he leaves a campaign event in Waterloo, Iowa, on Dec. 19, 2023. Scott Olson/Getty Images
Can former President Donald Trump be disqualified from another presidential term? The answer to that question partly hinges on the answer to this one: Does the “disqualification” language in the Constitution’s 14th Amendment apply to a candidate seeking the presidency?
Rob Natelson
Author
Robert G. Natelson, a former constitutional law professor who is senior fellow in constitutional jurisprudence at the Independence Institute in Denver, authored “The Original Constitution” (4th ed., 2025). He is a contributor to the Heritage Foundation’s “Heritage Guide to the Constitution.”
