How defense leaders expect Trump to use the military

During Donald Trump's first term as president, he exercised his broad constitutional authority over the military in unprecedented ways.

He mobilized thousands of National Guard troops to repel Black Lives Matter protests in Washington, D.C., suspended long-running military exercises with U.S. ally South Korea to appease North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, and banned transgender recruits the service – and issued the directive in a tweet.

According to Trump, he would go much further in a second term.

Now, just days before a historically close election, former defense officials and lawmakers say the results could be apocalyptic.

Trump has warned that he could deploy US troops to fight “the enemy within” and said that “radical left-wing lunatics” could be fought by American soldiers.

In June, Trump amplified a social media post calling for former Rep. Liz Cheney – the Republican co-chair of the House special committee that oversaw the attack on the Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters on January 6, 2021 investigated – to withdraw and charged with treason before a military court. Treason carries the death penalty.

Trump could, some current and former defense officials say, invoke the Insurrection Act and order U.S. troops to engage in the mass deportation of people living in the country without legal permission, arrest citizens involved in civil disobedience – and to persecute his political opponents.

“He would use the military to go after these people,” said Chuck Hagel, a Republican and former defense secretary under President Barack Obama. “It’s pretty clear that this is an authoritarian statement.”

Senator Jack Reed, the Rhode Island Democrat who chairs the Armed Services Committee, said: “Frankly, he will destroy the Defense Department.”

“Similar to many Americans, I am very concerned about a second Trump term – one that is not based on guesswork,” Hagel said. “But based on his own words.”

Defense leaders raise concerns

This story is based on interviews with two former defense secretaries in the Obama administration, Reed, and several current and former defense officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. Representatives for John Kelly, Trump's former Homeland Security secretary, and retired Gen. Mark Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Trump, said both officials declined to comment, as did Christopher Miller, Trump's last acting defense secretary.

Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, the ranking Republican member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers of Alabama did not respond to requests for comment.

During the campaign, Trump proposed deploying U.S. military forces domestically to help with the mass deportation of immigrants without permanent residency status.

In an interview with TIME earlier this year, Trump said he would deploy the National Guard alongside local law enforcement to carry out the deportations. “If I thought things were getting out of control, I would have no problem using the military,” he said.

Asked whether he would deploy the military within U.S. borders, he said: “I don't think I would have to do that. I think the National Guard would be able to do that. If they weren’t able to do that, I would use the military.”

The Trump campaign's national press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, reiterated that promise in a statement.

“President Trump will restore effective immigration policies, introduce all-new crackdowns that will send shockwaves through every criminal smuggler in the world, and mobilize all federal and state power necessary to launch the largest deportation operation of illegal criminals, drug dealers and human traffickers “American history,” she said.

Troops were deployed to U.S. soil during the aftermath of Rodney King in 1992

Federal law generally prohibits the use of active troops on U.S. soil for law enforcement. But the Insurrection Act of 1807 gives the president authority in emergencies. It was last invoked in 1992 during riots in Los Angeles after police officers were acquitted in the beating of Rodney King.

If Trump were to actually invoke the Insurrection Act to order the military to arrest and deport immigrants, the troops would be in a quandary over whether those actions are legal, according to a current and a former senior defense official consulting with the on condition of anonymity.

If military lawyers interpret the deportation orders, which could involve millions of people, as legal, troops would be tasked with carrying them out.

Trump is likely to appoint Cabinet members who are fully committed to his agenda, Unlike his first term, he will not fight back like former defense secretaries Jim Mattis and Mark Esper did.

“He never really understood the role of the military and never understood that their primary oath is to the Constitution and not to the president,” said Leon Panetta, who served as defense secretary and CIA director under Obama.

“What he will clearly do is appoint civilians to key positions in the Pentagon, which will give him at least some ability to try to influence what happens in the military,” Panetta said.

When these civilian officials issue orders that conflict with their interpretation of the Constitution, such as mass deportations, Panetta expects widespread resignations among uniformed leaders.

Refusing to obey

“The military leaders I know will refuse to obey an order that they believe violates their oath to the Constitution,” said Panetta, who is still consulting with Pentagon officials. “So it may well be that we end up losing a lot of senior military leadership if he continues to order them to do things that violate their oath.”

Trump flirted with invoking the Insurrection Act in 2020 when protests gripped the nation in response to the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. As protesters gathered in Washington, D.C., units from the 82nd Airborne Division moved toward the outskirts of the nation's capital to await orders to move in, according to Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy.

In June 2020, Trump considered sending troops to American cities to quell demonstrations.

“If a city or state refuses to take the necessary measures to protect the lives and property of its residents, I will deploy the U.S. military and quickly resolve the problem for them,” he said.

Trump hasn't given up on the idea. And now he says he won't wait for permission from state and local politicians.

“In cities where public safety has completely broken down, I will deploy federal forces, including the National Guard, until law and order is restored,” he said in an address to the Conservative Political Action Conference last year, adding: “This We can’t do that.”

And at a rally in Davenport, Iowa, last March, Trump said he would intervene to “take crime out of our cities” such as New York and Chicago, which he described as “dens of crime.” Data shows violent crime in urban areas nationwide is down from a peak during the pandemic.

He acknowledged that “you shouldn't be involved, you just have to be asked by the governor or mayor to come in.”

“Next time,” he said, “I won’t wait.”

carry out threats

Hagel believes Trump will make good on his threats, including a military trial of critics like Cheney and the use of troops to pursue the “enemy within,” a shifting category that included Democratic lawmakers including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi , and Adam Schiff, who led Trump's first impeachment trial in 2020.

“It’s a threat to democracy,” said Hagel, a former Republican senator from Nebraska. “It really strikes at the heart of a nation that is governed by a constitution, that is a nation of laws, when you start using the military for your own personal ends.”

Trump spokesman Steven Cheung defended Trump's description of internal threats.

“President Trump is 100% right,” Cheung said in a statement. “Those who seek to undermine democracy by sowing chaos in our elections are a direct threat.”

Asked whether he agreed with Trump's former chief of staff John Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general, that Trump met the definition of a fascist, Reed only slightly disagreed. Kelly also said in an interview with The New York Times that Trump spoke admiringly of Hitler's generals.

“I'm very concerned that regardless of the definition of fascist, he would behave like one,” Reed said.

Defense leaders raise concerns

Troops were deployed to U.S. soil during the aftermath of Rodney King in 1992

Refusing to obey

carry out threats

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