It’s been part of President Donald Trump’s pedigree since entering the political scene — make controversy a political advantage.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi took to the podium Tuesday to announce the House of Representatives would take up a formal impeachment inquiry into the president, accusing him of seeking Ukraine’s help to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden ahead of next year’s election.

Trump’s team was quick to respond to the most serious step taken against his administration in the last 3 years.

Within 30 minutes of the announcement, the Trump campaign released a video mocking what they referred to as Democrats’ obsession with impeachment. In the 24 hours after Pelosi’s announcement, the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee had raised $5 million for the president’s 2020 run.

Trump also took the unprecedented step of declassifying a thorough summary of his private conversation with the president of Ukraine in hopes of clearing his name and corralling Republican allies on Capitol Hill to coordinate his defense.

Most Republicans have rushed to Trump’s defense to support him on the issue of potential impeachment — a stat that is shown by his 82 percent from the GOP according to the latest Quinnipiac Poll.  

But a few dissenting voices in the party stand alone. None louder, or more prominent, than Utah Senator Mitt Romney.

Romney, who has repeatedly and publicly been an outstanding Republican when it comes to questioning Trump’s conduct during his tenure in office, said he’s “deeply troubled” by the president’s efforts to potentially coerce a foreign leader for political assistance.

Senate Majority Whip John Thune, R-South Dakota, added that the content of the July 25 phone call was something he “didn’t like seeing.” He said the president’s insistence that the Ukrainian government investigates former Vice President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, “is not something I would bring up.”

According to the rough transcript of the call, Trump does, in fact, ask for foreign help in investigating Biden. He then reminds Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that the U.S. provides more military aid to his Ukraine than many of the country’s European neighbors.

Trump’s strategic decision to declassify the documents was a noticeable departure from earlier in his presidency. His White House has stonewalled nearly every congressional oversight document request this year.

Trump said his phone call with the new Zelensky was “perfect,” echoing Zelensky’s insistence that “there was no pressure put on him whatsoever.”

“There should be a way of stopping [the impeachment inquiry], maybe legally through the courts, but they’re going to tie up our country,” Trump said.

Americans are currently split 49 percent to 46 over “whether they approve of Democrats’ impeachment inquiry into President Trump” according to an NPR/PBS poll conducted this week.