No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
Trump Isn’t Disqualified From Holding Office Under the 14th Amendment
"Second, as I have previously written in a Heritage Foundation report, it is highly doubtful that the disqualification clause is still valid. The second sentence in that section, which Trump critics conveniently ignore, provides: “But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.” (The Daily Signal is The Heritage Foundation’s news outlet.)"
"In other words, Congress was given the power in the amendment itself to remove the disability imposed by the 14th Amendment, a unique power that doesn’t exist in any other amendments. Importantly, Congress did exactly that in 1872 and 1898."
"Congress passed an amnesty act in 1872 with the required two-thirds vote removing all “political disabilities” imposed by Section 3 except for members of the 36th and 37th Congresses, as well as “heads of departments, and foreign ministers of the United States” and “officers in the judicial, military and naval services.” "
"In 1898, even these exceptions were removed by Congress in a second amnesty act stating that the “disability imposed by section 3 … heretofore incurred is hereby removed.” There was no language preserving any of the disqualifications for any future cases."
Fourteenth Amendment, Section 3:
No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
The right to remove disabilities imposed by this Section was exercised by Congress at different times on behalf of enumerated individuals.1 In 1872, the disabilities were removed, by a blanket act, from all persons "except Senators and Representatives of the Thirty-sixth and Thirty-seventh Congresses, officers in the judicial, military and naval service of the United States, heads of departments, and foreign ministers of the United States."2 Twenty-six years later, Congress enacted that "the disability imposed by section 3 . . . incurred heretofore, is hereby removed."3
1: E.g., and notably, the Private Act of December 14, 1869, ch.1, 16 Stat. 607.
2: Ch. 193, 17 Stat. 142.
3: Act of June 6, 1898, ch. 389, 30 Stat. 432. Legislation by Congress providing for removal was necessary to give effect to the prohibition of Section 3, and until removed in pursuance of such legislation persons in office before promulgation of the Fourteenth Amendment continued to exercise their functions lawfully. Griffin’s Case, 11 F. Cas. 7 (C.C.D.Va. 1869) (No. 5815). Nor were persons who had taken part in the Civil War and had been pardoned by the President before the adoption of this Amendment precluded by this Section from again holding office under the United States. 18 Op. Att’y Gen. 149 (1885). On the construction of "engaged in rebellion," see United States v. Powell, 27 F. Cas. 605 (No. 16079) (C.C.D.N.C. 1871).
https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/amdt14-S3-1-1/ALDE_00000848/
who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State
It seems obvious that President Trump took no oath as a member of Congress, or of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State. That only leaves "as an officer of the United States." The President is NOT an officer of the United States.
Article II:
... he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law....
An officer of the United States is an appointed position. The President is elected.
It was written and passed because of the Civil War. It addressed that issue only