Bookies slash odds on Donald Trump being impeached following latest scandal to engulf US President

Bookies have slashed the odds of Donald Trump being impeached following his implication in a hush money scheme.

Mr Trump’s future as US President seems more uncertain than ever after his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign financing charges at the same time as the conviction of former campaign chairman Paul Manafort for financial crimes.

Cohen’s crimes include campaign finance violations that the lawyer said he carried out in coordination with Mr Trump.

Following the latest controversy to hit the Trump presidency, bookmakers have slashed the odds on his leadership ending this year, along with the chances of him being impeached.

Paddy Power cut odds on Mr Trump being impeached from 2/1 to 6/4, while odds on him leaving the White House in 2018 were slashed from 10/1 to just 4/1.

A spokesman said: “Mr Trump has had a few stormy nights during this Presidency but, just as you thought he was getting on top of it, another allegation comes along. Our punters, certainly, are convinced he’ll be impeached – just nine people have bet against it. Though that figure would be much higher if we operated in Russia.”

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According to Betfred, odds of Mr Trump being successfully impeached before the end of 2020 were 8/1 when he became US President, dropping to 4/1 before the Cohen and Manafort cases.

And following the conviction and guilty pleas of two of his former key players, the odds could be found at 5/2.

Betfred spokesman Matt Hulmes said “Controversy has always courted Donald Trump throughout his campaign and presidential reign but these latest slurs could have a significant damage on his Oval Office occupancy.

“He was 8/1 when arriving in the White House to be impeached in his first four year term, price which was halved into 4/1 prior to the latest news of the Cohen and Manafort cases.

“People are inclined to think he may struggle to shrug off the latest high profile news and they have backed it up backing an impeachment into 5/2.”

But Betfair spokesperson Katie Baylis said despite the latest potentially-damaging scandal, many people still seem to think he’s untouchable, with Betfair’s odds for the President to see out his first term sticking at 8/13.

She said: “Despite another damaging scandal, punters on the Betfair exchange just don’t seem to think anything can touch him and he’s still odds-on to at 8/13 to see out his first term, with very little movement in the odds in the last 24 hours despite last night’s breaking news.

“His odds of NOT being impeached are also odds-on at 1/2 and this has been typical of the Trump markets in the last year, with seemingly nothing, no matter how scandalous, convincing punters that Trump is in danger.”

Despite a question mark over his future as US President, Mr Trump seemed unruffled at a campaign rally in Charleston, West Virginia, instead focusing on developments on trade, taxes, North Korea and even his plans for a space force.

“What we’re doing is winning,” he told cheering supporters.

Addressing the Manafort case, he said: “Where is the collusion?”, a reference to the crimes occurring before he became involved with Mr Trump’s campaign.

“You know they’re still looking for collusion,” the president said.

Mr Trump did say he felt “badly for both” men, but he largely ignored Cohen’s guilty pleas.