During his first term as president, Donald Trump pushed the boundaries of how he might use the military to advance policy. If given a second term, the Republican and his allies intend to go much further, reinventing the military as an all-powerful tool for deployment on American territory.
He has threatened to recall thousands of American troops from overseas and station them at the US-Mexico border. He has considered utilizing military to address domestic policy issues like as deportation and social unrest. He has spoken of removing military officers who are ideologically opposed to him.
Trump’s vision represents a potentially radical shift in the military’s position in American society, with serious ramifications for both the country’s global standing and the constraints that have usually been placed on the military’s domestic usage.
As Trump’s campaign against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris nears its end, he promises tough action against undocumented immigrants. Speaking in Colorado on Friday, the Republican branded Aurora as a “war zone” controlled by Venezuelan gangs, despite the fact that authorities claim the incident occurred on a single street of the Denver suburb and that the region is again safe.
“I will rescue Aurora and every town that has been invaded and conquered,” Trump declared during the event. “We will put these vicious and bloodthirsty criminals in jail or kick them out of our country.”
Even while wars rage in Europe and the Middle East, the former president and his advisers are devising strategies to refocus the military’s resources and priorities. Trump’s top objective in Agenda 47 is to execute hard-line tactics at the US-Mexico border by “moving thousands of troops currently stationed overseas” there. He also promises to “declare war” on cartels and deploy the Navy in a blockade to board and examine ships for fentanyl.
Trump has also stated that he intends to employ the National Guard and potentially the military to deport millions of undocumented immigrants.
While Trump’s campaign declined to discuss the specifics of those plans, such as how many troops he would shift from overseas assignments to the border, his allies are not shy about portraying the operation as a broad mission that would use the federal government’s most powerful tools in new and dramatic ways.
“The Justice Department, Homeland Security, and the Department of Defense may form an alliance. “Those three departments must be coordinated in a way that has perhaps never been done before,” said Ron Vitiello, who served as acting director of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement under Trump.
While both Democratic and Republican presidential administrations have traditionally employed military resources at the border, the proposed proposals represent a significant increase in the military’s role in domestic policy.
Advocates for human rights and civil liberties are frightened.
“They are promising to use the military to conduct mass raids on American families on a scale that harkens back to some of the worst things our country has done,” said Todd Schulte, president of FWD.us, an immigration advocacy group.
Republicans in Congress, which has the authority to limit the use of military force through financing and other authorizations, are broadly supportive of Trump’s proposals.
“The reason I support Donald Trump is that he would protect the border on day one. Now, this could be seen as being a dictator. No, he needs to secure the border,” said Rep. Joe Wilson, R-South Carolina, a member of the House Armed Services Committee.
Many Republicans believe that Trump’s rhetoric on immigration reflects reality and highlights the need for military action.
“There is a case that this is an invasion,” said North Carolina Republican Sen. Ted Budd, who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee. “You look at ten million individuals, many of them are not here for a better future, and, regrettably, it has become necessary. This is an issue that the Biden and Harris administrations have caused.”
Still, Trump’s intentions to relocate military forces from abroad may exacerbate tensions within the GOP between foreign policy hawks and Republicans who support Trump’s brand of “America First” isolationism.
Republican Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, asserted that Trump would not send active-duty troops to the border, despite the fact that his platform clearly indicates that he will.
In the Senate, where more traditional Republicans still hold sway, Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, issued a statement encouraging the Department of Defense to assist with border security but stating that the effort “needs to be led by the Department of Homeland Security.”
Trump’s military plans could extend beyond the border.
As Trump wraps up a campaign marred by real threats to his life, his advisors have already made an unusual request for military aircraft to transport him, citing increased concerns about Iranian threats.
During his first term, when riots and protests against police brutality erupted across the country, Trump tried to deploy military forces. Top military leaders, notably then-Gen. Mark Milley, opposed the proposals, writing a message emphasizing that every member of the military “swears an oath to support and defend the Constitution and the values embedded within it.”
Trump’s potential actions would most likely necessitate the use of wartime or emergency powers, such as mass deportations under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 or quelling unrest under the Insurrection Act of 1807, which allows a president to deploy the military domestically and against US citizens. It was last used by President George H.W. Bush in 1992, during riots in Los Angeles following police officers’ beating of Black motorist Rodney King.
Ahead of Trump’s prospective second term, Democrats in Congress attempted to update presidential powers such as the Insurrection Act, but had little success.
As a result, they are voicing grim warnings that Trump now has less restrictions on how he can deploy the military. He has demonstrated the capacity to bend institutions to his will, from a Supreme Court prepared to rethink long-held interpretations of presidential powers to a military depleted of officers and officials likely to oppose his policies.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who proposed legislation to modernize the Insurrection Act, said the proposals “illuminate Donald Trump’s total misunderstanding of the United States military as a force for national defense, not for his personal preferences to demagogue an issue.”
But Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, emphasized how many members of his party have become comfortable with using the military to combat illegal immigration and drug trafficking.