Donald Trump more likely to be impeached after Helsinki summit with Putin, bookmaker says

An Irish bookmaker says it is now more likely Donald Trump will be impeached in light of the recent summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Paddy Power, the betting shop based in Dublin, has said the odds of Mr Trump being kicked out of the White House have gone from 8/1 to 2/1 following the pair’s meeting in Helsinki, Finland.

In addition, the odds of the impeachment happening later this year went from 12/1 to 8/1, a Paddy Power spokesperson told Yahoo News UK, adding: “After the carnage of the last few days, we’ve seen plenty of punters Putin money on Trump’s impeachment again – although I’m sure they’ll soon get a message, in Russian, urging them to stop."

After a two-hour, private meeting, Mr Trump refused to denounce Russia’s interference in the 2016 US election during a joint press conference.

Critics said it was almost treasonous of the US leader not to stand up to Mr Putin and instead continue to bring up Hillary Clinton, her use of a private email server while she was Secretary of State, and call the FBI investigation into alleged collusion between Mr Trump’s campaign team and Russian officials “a witch hunt”.

Even Republicans such as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have said it is “indisputable” Russia meddled in the 2016 US election.

Mr Trump later provided a “clarification” of his remarks in Helsinki.

“I thought it would be obvious but I would like to clarify just in case it wasn't: In a key sentence ... I said the word 'would' instead of 'wouldn't'," Mr Trump said ahead of a meeting with his Cabinet and Congressional Republicans. He clarified: "The sentence should have been 'I don't see any reason why... it wouldn't be Russia'”. He said it was an issue with the transcript and he used "sort of a double negative".

Despite the bookmaker’s odds Democratic House member Eric Swalwell, who sits on the Judiciary Committee that would have to initiate the proceedings, told The Hill newspaper it was “premature” to think about ousting Mr Trump.

"We should do all we can to make sure that he’s held accountable, that we conduct the investigations the Republicans have been unwilling to do. If impeachment is the case, it’s because we found impenetrable evidence that we take to the American people and will be accepted by both Republicans and Democrats,” the Congressman said.

Congressman Al Green was the first member to call for Mr Trump’s impeachment on the House floor late last year.

Maxine Waters, the Democratic House member, has routinely called for the president’s ousting the past 18 months he has been in office.

The mayors of at least 10 US cities have also called for impeachment, including Los Angeles and several members of the Chicago city council.

Dan Savage, an LGBT activist and writer of the syndicated sex advice column "Savage Love," has raised $100,000 (£78,000) for organisations doing work in opposition to Donald Trump's policies by selling an apparel line modelled after Mr Trump’s signature “Make America Great Again” red hats.

Mr Savage sold hats, t-shirts, buttons, stickers, coffee cups, and other items emblazoned with the acronym "ITMFA," or Impeach the Motherf***** Already.