Politics
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US President Donald Trump speaks at the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday, the day the memo of his call with Ukraine's president was released and the day after Democrats announced an impeachment inquiry against him.
- Barbara Res, a former Trump Organization vice president, told CNN's Brian Stelter that she thinks President Trump will resign before the impeachment process is through.
- Res argued Trump has a track record of doing "things to save face."
- The move mirrors that of former President Richard Nixon, who resigned from office before his own impeachment following the Watergate scandal.
- As his presidency faces increasing turmoil, Res told CNN she sees Trump's latest political moves as made in a panic.
- Most recently, Trump announced that he would pull US forces out of Syria in a rambling Twitter thread, which was met with backlash from other GOP members, including Sen. Lindsey Graham, who is known to stand by the president in the past.
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A former Trump Organization executive said she thinks President Trump will resign before the impeachment inquiry, brought on by a whistleblower complaint, is complete.
The move mirrors that of former President Richard Nixon, who resigned from office before his own impeachment after the emergence of the Watergate scandal.
Barbara Res, a former Trump Organization vice president, told CNN's Brian Stelter that Trump may resign, given his previous track record of doing "things to save face."
"There are some things that he can't control, and he's now at the point where he can't control this," Res told CNN. "He can't do anything about this."
Like Nixon, Res told CNN that she thinks impeachment is a worse fate than resigning from office for Trump, which could potentially erode his political reputation.
"It would be very, very, very bad for him to be impeached," Trump said. "I don't know that he would be found guilty, but I don't think he wants to be impeached."
Read more: Congress is using the Watergate playbook to take on Trump and drum up support for his impeachment
Since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi launched an official impeachment inquiry into the president at the end of September, House committees have subpoenaed several Trump officials, and additional whistleblowers have spoken up about the Ukraine scandal.
After denying that he withheld military aid to Ukraine in return for an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, Trump subsequently told reporters at the White House that he encouraged China to investigate the Bidens as well.
Res told CNN she sees Trump's latest political moves as made in a panic. On Monday, Trump announced that he would pull US forces out of Syria in a rambling Twitter thread, which was met with backlash from other GOP members, including Sen. Lindsey Graham, who is known to stand by the president in the past.
"My gut tells me he'll leave office; he'll resign," she told CNN. "Or make some kind of a deal even, depending on what comes out."
This isn't the first time the subject of a potential presidential resignation has been broached. A 2017 article by Quartz written less than a month after Trump took office - noted that the online betting site Ladbrokes said there was a 48% chance Trump would either be impeached or resign before completing his first term.