U.S. House leader dropped a bombshell on Tuesday, announcing a formal impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, which some experts said could backfire and end up galvanizing support among Trump's base in the lead up to the 2020 elections.

Actions taken by the president "have seriously violated the Constitution," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday in a televised statement, accusing Trump of "betrayal of his oath of office" and "betrayal of our national security."

After months of flirting with the idea but stopping short of taking action, Pelosi's decision came as more than two-thirds of House Democrats push for an impeachment inquiry amid mounting pressures over alleged abuses of power of the president.

The action followed recent reports that Trump threatened to withhold aid to Ukraine in a bid to pressure Kiev to investigate the son of former Vice President Joe Biden, a potential rival of Trump in the 2020 elections. Biden's son has had business dealings in the Ukraine.

Democrats said this was tantamount to betraying the nation's national security interests for the sake of Trump's own political gains, which they believe is an impeachable offense.

The White House on Tuesday dismissed the allegations, calling it business as usual among Democrats seeking to derail the president.

"The last time a president was impeached it backfired," Republican Strategist and TV news personality Ford O'Connell told Xinhua, referring to the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton, which was initiated in 1998.

"There's no public appetite for it," O'Connell said. "Only 37 percent of voters want Democrats to start impeachment proceedings."

"Initiating impeachment proceedings against President Trump remains a popular move among the Democratic base, but it won't necessarily help them win voters across the aisle," said Tyler Sinclair, Morning Consult's vice president, as quoted by POLITICO, a U.S. political publication.

O'Connell said "once the Mueller report turned out to be a dud, the Democratic leaders in Congress decided to investigate every possible allegation against Trump, without invoking impeachment." O'Connell was referring to the year-long report about possible collusion between Trump and Russia, which in the end failed to produce a smoking gun but cost U.S. taxpayers 32 million dollars.

O'Connell noted that when Republicans impeached Clinton, his approval ratings jumped 10 points in the aftermath.

Democrats were upset about the impeachment and turned out in the next election to protect their president, and experts said the same could happen with Republicans in 2020.

"Imagine what 10 points could do for Donald Trump?" O'Connell said.

Read more from Matthew Rusling at Xinhua

U.S. Republicans have recently raised funds at record-breaking levels. While some experts say this bodes well for the re-election of U.S. President Donald Trump, others argue that Trump's re-election is not a foregone conclusion, and note that the 2020 elections are still a long way off.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel announced earlier this week that the party brought in a record-breaking 20.8 million U.S. dollars in July, the RNC's largest ever off-cycle July haul, bringing the total to 177.9 million dollars for the 2019-2020 cycle.

"Our fundraising success is further evidence that the American people like the pro-growth agenda and economic record that the Trump administration and Republicans continue to deliver, and this puts us in a strong position to secure more Republican victories in 2020," she said.

Republican strategist and TV news personality Ford O'Connell told Xinhua that "this is a good sign for the Republicans."

"Clearly the Democratic fundraising has been anemic. There's a lot more enthusiasm for Trump than the media would let on. Second, when you look at the Democrats, they are conflicted, but there's also not a lot of enthusiasm in the party apparatus."

"The other question you have to ask is if Democrats pick the wrong candidate, are they all going to get on board?" O'Connell said.

Read more from Matthew Rusling at Xinhua

U.S. Democrats continue to bang their fists on the table and demand an impeachment inquiry against U.S. President Donald Trump. But experts said the threats may never amount to action.

On Sunday, four additional Democrats called for an impeachment investigation against the U.S. president, moving closer to a majority of House Democrats who support such a move.

That makes nearly a dozen additional House Democrats since last week who have shown support for opening an impeachment inquiry, bringing the total number to 107, falling just 11 members short of a Democratic Caucus majority.

That suggests that the idea is gaining momentum, some experts said.

Democrats continue to accuse the president's 2016 campaign team of colluding with Russia in a bid to clinch the White House.

"The president was not exculpated for the acts that he allegedly committed," Mueller told a hearing last week before the House Judiciary Committee about his investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

He told lawmakers that he would not say if the president had committed a crime.

After the Mueller hearings, Democrats continue to call for an impeachment inquiry. However, the threats may be just threats, experts said.

"They're not going to give it up, because they've backed themselves into a corner with their base. They continue to scream that there is collusion," Republican Strategist and TV news personality Ford O'Connell told Xinhua.

"But at the same time, they haven't begun impeachment proceedings. And the reason is because they know that with Republican control of the Senate, and nothing coming out of the Mueller hearings, officially beginning impeachment proceedings would be political suicide," O'Connell said.

Read more from Matthew Rusling at Xinhua

Despite much fanfare around him in the last U.S. presidential elections, Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders is slipping in the polls, but experts have said he's still in the race to grab the 2020 Democratic nomination.

"Sanders isn't finished. He's on life support. He has a core set of supporters," Republican strategist and TV news personality Ford O'Connell told Xinhua.

Sanders saw his popularity surge in the lead-up to the 2016 elections, when he ran for the Democratic nomination against Hillary Clinton. Supporters were wildly enthusiastic about the openly socialist candidate who said he would turn Washington upside down.

Sanders was in some ways a mirror reflection of U.S. President Donald Trump -- an anti-establishment figure who clearly understood that Washington had failed a sizable chunk of Americans for decades. Sanders railed against Wall Street and called for a radical shift toward a more socialist style of governance.

Just a few months ago, many supporters, media outlets and experts expressed the belief that he would be the front runner in the race to grab the Democratic nomination and face off against Trump.

However, while Sanders had a fresh message in 2016, times have changed fast. His far-left vision for America is now shared by many of the other 23 candidates vying for the Democratic ticket, making it hard for him to stand out.

Read more from Matthew Rusling at Xinhua

U.S. President Donald Trump announced Thursday that his administration is "not backing down" in the fight to know how many citizens and non-citizens are in the United States, at a time when the country is increasingly divided over the immigration issue.

Previously, the White House had fought to include a question on citizenship in the 2020 census, which was subsequently blocked by the Supreme Court. In the days before Thursday's announcement, rumors swirled in the press that Trump would fight the Supreme Court's decision.

In a speech at the White House on Thursday, Trump said due to litigation and opposition, the U.S. administration would not push for the inclusion of the question in the decennial census.

However, he issued an executive order to have every government department collect data on how many citizens and non-citizens are living inside the United States. The departments would then have to hand over all information to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

By issuing his executive order, Trump effectively circumvented the Supreme Court to find an alternative way to find out how many illegal migrants are living in the United States, instead of challenging the decision of the nation's highest court.

Republican Strategist and TV news personality Ford O'Connell told Xinhua that "we've had the citizenship question in one form or another on the census for the last 200 years. Basically we had it from 1820 to 1950 on every census. And then from 1950 to 2000 on the long form."

"I just don't understand why people wouldn't want to know who's in this country. Particularly when it comes down to electoral votes, congressional representation and federal funding to the states (taxpayer funding)," O'Connell said.

While U.S. media usually reports that there are around 10 million migrants living illegally in the United States, O'Connell casts doubt on those figures, saying "what they (Democrats) don't want people to know is hard data on exactly how many illegal immigrants could possibly be in this country."

"Since the year 2000, they've been saying about 10 million. Well, we know that's impossible," O'Connell said.

Read more from Matthew Rusling at Xinhua

With the Democratic Party undergoing a major leftward shift, U.S. President Donald Trump's campaign strategy of portraying Democrats as "radical leftists" is aimed at galvanizing his supporters, experts have said.

Kicking off his campaign last month in the U.S. state of Florida, Trump claimed at a rally that "a vote for any Democrat in 2020 is a vote for the rise of radical socialism and the destruction of the American dream."

While so far there is no serious primary challenge to Trump within the Republican Party, the 2020 Democratic primary is poised to be the most crowded, with at least 23 candidates, among whom there are a number of previously moderate Democrats trying to get noticed by endorsing far-left policies.

During last month's second Democratic debate, all 10 candidates raised their hands when asked whether the government should provide free healthcare for illegal migrants.

However, recent polls have suggested that far-left-of-center policies, as well as candidates who promote such policies, may not resonate with many voters, including those moderate ones who will balk at the price tag and fret over the tax hikes needed to pay for such programs.

Experts said Trump will continue to focus on galvanizing his core supporters, in a bid to ensure they get out to cast their votes in 2020.

Pointing out that fear is a motivator in U.S. politics, Republican Strategist and TV personality Ford O'Connell told Xinhua that casting Democrats in a negative light will benefit the Trump campaign.

"People tell you that they want to hear positive and not negative. But it's amazing, in general, how much better negative works out," O'Connell told Xinhua.

Read more from Matthew Rusling at Xinhua

The United States continued talks with Mexico on Thursday amid U.S. President Donald Trump's threats to slap tariffs on its southern neighbor. If tariffs take effect, that could impact both economies and drive a wedge between Washington and its third largest trading partner, experts said.

At issue is whether Mexico will step up efforts to stop the flow of undocumented migrants crossing its southern border into the United States. Trump has expressed frustration over growing inflow of illegal immigrants. Last month saw a decade-long high in apprehensions of illegal migrants, with 133,000 detained at the border.

Mexico is also used as a route of entry to the United States by violent criminal gangs from El Salvador, such as the infamous MS-13, while many of Trump's supporters also believe that illegal immigration drives down working class wages and increases competition for blue collar jobs.

Illegal immigration will be one of Trump's major platforms in the 2020 elections, and the president believes Mexico has done very little to mitigate the situation. While Mexico on Thursday vowed to provide 6,000 troops to beef up border security, that may not be enough to satisfy Trump's demands.

The U.S. president has threatened that if Mexico does not take action to stem the tsunami of illegal migration, he will slap a 5 percent tariff on Mexican goods that will grow incrementally if no agreement is reached.

TV news personality and Republican Strategist Ford O'Connell told Xinhua the main problem is that U.S. laws do not reflect the reality on the ground. The vast majority of illegal migrants are from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. Many are traveling as families, or claiming to be families.

The laws are designed to stop single men from Mexico, rather than families or children migrating alone. Laws make it difficult to detain such individuals, even if they are lying about being under the age of 18. Authorities often have no choice other than to release them into the United States, where they remain indefinitely.

"Thanks to American laws, the people who come here illegally, the majority will never be deported," O'Connell told Xinhua.

"If people don't ever think they are going to be turned away, why would they ever stop coming?" O'Connell said.

Read more from Matthew Ruslting at Xinhua 

A mass shooting in the U.S. state of Virginia on Friday is unlikely to cause a major debate on gun control, as the public has become used to news of gun violence and is unlikely to clamor for change to gun laws, experts have said.

Twelve people were shot dead Friday when a gunman opened fire at a government building in the city of Virginia Beach. Authorities so far said they do not know the shooter's motive.

Republicans and Democrats are at odds over the issue, with Democrats calling for more gun legislation, and Republicans fearing that more laws might not lessen the violence, but instead infringe on rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.

While Democrats have been vocal on gun control since Friday's shootings, their outrage is likely to die down when headlines start to fade, experts said.

Gun control is simply not on most voters' radars in the lead-up to the 2020 elections, TV news personality and Republican Strategist Ford O'Connell told Xinhua.

He noted that polls show only 5 percent of Americans view gun control as a major issue, while healthcare, jobs and immigration top the list of voters' priorities. While Democrats may introduce bills on a national level, experts said they won't go far in a divided Congress.

The United States is more likely to see laws enacted on a state level than on a national level, O'Connell said.

"I think you're going to have real battles in some of the Senate races," but not on the national level, he said.

"It's an issue of importance to some voters, but I don't think it's going to decide the 2020 election. It may have more salience in certain key Senate races, but it's not going to be the reason Trump wins or loses."

On the state level, the legislation conversation has become more robust since last year's Parkland school shooting, with eight states having passed "red flag laws," allowing for temporary but immediate disarmament of individuals who pose a danger to themselves or others.

Read more from Matthew Rusling at Xinhua

Abortion has vaulted to the forefront of issues in the lead up to the 2020 U.S. presidential elections, and experts said the issue may well become the Gordian knot in the race, dragging out the imminent fight between Democrats and Republicans.

Earlier this month, Kay Ivey, governor of the U.S. state of Alabama, signed a new law that would ban all abortions, except in cases in which the mother's life is in danger, in the latest challenge to the 1973 landmark Roe v. Wade case that ruled that women have a right to have an abortion.

The Alabama law would make it a felony for a doctor to perform an abortion, with the possibility of 99 years of imprisonment. Even victims of rape and incest would not be permitted to terminate their pregnancies.

The ban is the latest in a trend toward more restrictive abortion policies, with the U.S. states of Kentucky, Ohio, Georgia and Mississippi recently creating similar bans. Experts say all this is part of a GOP concerted effort to push the issue up to the U.S. Supreme Court, where anti-abortion supporters hope the court will strike down Roe v. Wade.

For their part, conservatives say the trend toward restricting abortions is a reaction to recent moves in states such as New York and Virginia to relax restrictions on late-term abortions.

TV news personality and Republican strategist Ford O'Connell told Xinhua that the new law in Alabama, as well as similar laws in other states, are a test-case, signed into law so they'll get pushed up to the Supreme Court in hopes that Roe v. Wade will be overturned.

O'Connell added that the spate of anti-abortion laws being passed in several states is a reaction to what many conservatives view as radical and immoral laws being pushed in states such as New York and Virginia. Such legislation seeks to make abortion legal even in the third trimester. Social conservatives, particularly evangelicals, which represent a large chunk of Trump's base, have strong views against such laws.

Read more from Matthew Rusling at Xinhua

In his final statement on the report that has sparked controversy for two years, U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller Wednesday signaled the possibility that President Donald Trump committed a crime, but stopped short of saying it definitively.

If we had "confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so," Mueller said at a press conference.

Mueller added that he found "insufficient evidence to charge a broader conspiracy" on whether there was interference in the election, and announced that he would step down.

Mueller's statements seemed to indicate he suspected wrongdoing but could not prove it, prompting some key Democrats to ratchet up calls to impeach Trump.

The Mueller investigation -- which sought to find evidence that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to clinch the 2016 elections -- took nearly two years and was concluded several months ago without finding a smoking gun. Democrats, however, are still convinced that Trump committed a crime, and continue to investigate.

Republican Strategist and TV news personality Ford O'Connell told Xinhua: "We didn't hear anything that wasn't in the report and contrary to the fanfare in the media, Mueller didn't say Trump was guilty of anything."

"In our legal system you are innocent until proven guilty," he added, noting that hard proof and facts are required in the U.S. rule-of-law system.

"What he's done here is to throw Democrats a political bone," O'Connell said of Mueller.

Read more from Matthew Rusling at Xinhua