January 20, 2017

As Donald Trump Becomes President, Bookies Bet Big on Impeachment

“Completely one-way traffic in betting.”

David Becker/Reuters

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.


As Donald Trump prepares to be sworn in as the next president of the United States today, bookmakers are currently offering odds on whether Trump—the least popular incoming president in four decades—will get impeached or be forced to resign. Some even predict that he won’t survive the first six months in office.

That’s according to the online betting site Paddy Power, which has placed the odds of Trump failing to complete his first term at 7 to 4. The odds of Trump getting impeached in the first six months stand at 4 to 1. Other offerings include bets on the inauguration itself and the future of his marriage to Melania Trump:

To be sure, political pundits are still reeling from one of the worst-predicted election results in recent memory, and the mechanisms to impeach a president are far more difficult than one might hope. Yet, Matt Shaddick, who oversees the popular betting site, told the Independent that there has been “completely one-way traffic” in betting trends against Trump’s survival in office.

But online bookmakers’ odds have been wrong about US politics before: Paddy Power prematurely paid out nearly a million dollars to those who betted in favor of a Hillary Clinton victory, a move that resulted in a $5 million loss for the site when the candidate eventually lost. The only thing that seems like a sure bet at this point is Trump’s unpredictability.

Take the next step: Help us fight for the truth.

Investigative journalism, like the story you just read, takes time to do. Months of research. Weeks of writing, editing, and fact checking—and putting together the photography, art, video, and audio that tell the stories in a new way, illuminating new perspectives and voices.

We can afford to take that time because we don’t report to an oligarch or corporation with a special agenda. We report to you, and for you. That’s why we unabashedly pursue the truth and relentlessly shine a light into the darkness.

In this month’s Summer Membership Drive, we’ve got to raise $200,000 to support more crucial investigations. This is a pivotal moment in our nation, with democracy on the line, and we can only do this work because readers like you step up. Every donation, of any amount, makes a difference here. We cannot do this work without you.

So, we’re asking: Will you support independent journalism that demands those in power answer for their actions?

Take the next step: Help us fight for the truth.

Investigative journalism, like the story you just read, takes time to do. Months of research. Weeks of writing, editing, and fact checking—and putting together the photography, art, video, and audio that tell the stories in a new way, illuminating new perspectives and voices

We can afford to take that time because we don’t report to an oligarch or corporation with a special agenda. We report to you, and for you. That’s why we unabashedly pursue the truth and relentlessly shine a light into the darkness.

In this month’s Summer Membership Drive, we’ve got to raise $200,000 to support more crucial investigations. This is a pivotal moment in our nation, with democracy on the line, and we can only do this work because readers like you step up. Every donation, of any amount, makes a difference here. We cannot do this work without you.

So, we’re asking: Will you support independent journalism that demands those in power answer for their actions?

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

INDEPENDENT. BECAUSE OF YOU.

Mother Jones has no billionaires calling the shots—just readers like you making fearless reporting possible

Donate