No president in modern history has done more to put the military in the middle of political and cultural crossfire than Donald Trump.
On Tuesday, just one day after he directed active-duty Marines onto the streets of Los Angeles in response to protests against his immigration policies and four days before he plans to oversee an extravagant military parade on his birthday, Mr. Trump stood before a crowd of beret-wearing soldiers at Fort Bragg in North Carolina and dragged them into his own political maelstrom.
While past commanders in chief might have chosen to deliver a speech that celebrated the U.S. Army’s history ahead of the service’s 250th anniversary this weekend, Mr. Trump opted instead for a rambling speech that ridiculed “radical left lunatic” politicians, threatened flag-burning protesters and falsely claimed the 2020 election was “rigged.” He also announced his plan to reverse a Biden administration decision and restore the names of Fort Robert E. Lee and six other military bases honoring former Confederate officers.
“You know what Nov. 5 was? It was the election of a president that loves you,” Mr. Trump said to scattered applause and cheers from the soldiers.
Presidents from both parties have been criticized for politicizing the military, but not one has challenged the military’s time-honored tradition of nonpartisanship as Mr. Trump has. His Fort Bragg speech was just the latest in a string of high-profile efforts to reshape the military more in his own likeness.
It began with his administration’s decision to remove senior officers, many Black and female, from positions on the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other command positions reportedly as part of its anti-D.E.I. initiative. It continued with his determination to reinstate and pay former service members who had been discharged after refusing Covid vaccinations in violation of military health mandates. And it was on full display when he sent active-duty troops to create new military zones along the U.S. border with Mexico.
But it is best exemplified by Mr. Trump’s decision this week to deploy some 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines onto the streets of Los Angeles after protests broke out over his immigration policies. The president is now pitting American forces directly against American citizens, most of whom are not violent and are simply angered by the Trump administration’s decisions. There are now more soldiers and Marines in Los Angeles than in the war-torn countries of Iraq and Syria.
The troops, sent by the president against the wishes of Gov. Gavin Newsom, are notionally there to protect federal property and agents. They cannot act independently in a domestic law enforcement role because of the 147-year-old Posse Comitatus Act, which generally prohibits them from doing so unless the president invokes the Insurrection Act — drawn up for the most urgent national security situations.
“Under the Trump administration, this anarchy will not stand,” Mr. Trump said at Fort Bragg. Few would disagree that the scenes of violence that have unfolded in Los Angeles over the past week are inexcusable. But by any measure, the situation falls short of anarchy, and the local police managed to largely keep protests under control.
Mr. Trump starkly framed his decision to deploy troops in us-versus-them terms. “These service members defending the honest citizens of California, they’re also defending our republic itself,” he said. “They’re heroes. They’re fighting for us. They’re stopping an invasion, just like you’d stop an invasion.”
Few, if any, past presidents would have felt comfortable drawing those battle lines so brightly by declaring one group of Americans as fundamentally different from the other. Republicans and Democrats alike have long understood that the U.S. military must be detached from partisan political activity. Service members must be relied upon to carry out lawful orders whether or not they agree with the acumen of their political leaders. This notion is at the core of American democracy and civilian control over the military.
It’s why service members aren’t permitted to attend political rallies or convey political beliefs while in uniform. Mr. Trump either didn’t know those rules or didn’t care, reveling in the troop’s laughter and jeers. “You think this crowd would’ve showed up for Biden?” Mr. Trump asked the soldiers. “I don’t think so.”
If U.S. presidents have anything in common in modern history, it’s a shared restraint in deploying active-duty military forces to suppress civil unrest. Lyndon Johnson was the last commander in chief to bypass a governor when he sent troops to protect civil rights advocates marching from Selma to Montgomery, Ala., in 1965.
Mr. Trump’s legal rationale for the military deployments has drawn criticism from legal scholars. California filed a federal lawsuit on Monday, but the wider fear among state leaders and politicians in other cities is that the deployments in California could set a precedent and become a harbinger of how things unfold in other protests in American streets.
Bryn Woollacott MacDonnell, the Pentagon’s acting comptroller, told Congress on Tuesday that the current National Guard and Marine deployments are estimated to last 60 days at a cost of about $134 million. The price could balloon if the mission expands.
It’s shaping up to be an expensive weekend at the Pentagon. Tens of millions more will be shelled out for the Army’s 250th anniversary parade in Washington on Saturday, when all manner of military vehicles, battle tanks and armored troop carriers are being readied to roll through the streets.
The president issued a warning to any potential protesters who may be looking to interfere with the festivities. “For those people that want to protest, they’re going to be met with very big force,” Mr. Trump said at the White House before his trip to Fort Bragg. “And I haven’t even heard about a protest, but you know, this is people that hate our country, but they will be met with very heavy force.”
That isn’t an easy thing to hear for those who value free expression, as well for the soldiers who are participating. The troops want to enjoy a celebration, not fight with the neighbors.
