On Sept. 30, former President Donald Trump addressed more than 700 top military generals, admirals, commanders and officers at Marine Corps Base Quantico.
In his address, he discussed “a war from within” and referred to U.S. cities as “training grounds” for the military, designating San Francisco, Chicago, New York and Los Angeles as “very unsafe places.”
The speech comes at a time when Washington, D.C., remains under increased federal oversight, the presence of the National Guard in Los Angeles has grown, and hundreds of federal agents and Guard members have been deployed to Memphis, Tennessee.
The order to deploy the National Guard to Portland, Oregon, which the president cited as “war-ravaged” and “under siege” by “domestic terrorists,” was blocked by U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut, who said that the recent protests against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not justify military intervention by the Trump administration.
Additionally, the deployment of 300 Illinois National Guard troops, with 400 more from Texas to Chicago, is currently being challenged by lawsuits from both the city of Chicago and the state of Illinois.
“This isn’t about public safety, it’s about power,” said California Gov. Gavin Newsom in a press release. “The commander in chief is using the U.S. military as a political weapon against American citizens.”
Outside of historical examples like military deployments to the South after the Civil War and the use of the National Guard during the Civil Rights Movement, the deployment of troops to cities is uncommon. These current deployments have drawn criticism from state and local officials.
The injunctions and lawsuits against these deployments argue, according to lawyers, that the federal government does not have legal cause to deploy the Guard.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul stated that, in contrast to those previous examples, there is no legal justification for the deployment, saying the “deployment of federalized troops to Illinois is patently unlawful.”
In contrast, Stephen Miller, the deputy chief of staff and national security adviser to the president, offered a different view, stating, “Under Title 10 of the U.S. Code, the president has plenary authority anytime he believes federal resources are insufficient to federalize the National Guard to carry out a mission necessary for public safety.”
These deployments require legal cause under the Posse Comitatus Act, a law passed in 1878. Its key provision bans the military from enforcing the law without congressional or constitutional approval.
In recent days, the administration has been having discussions around implementing the Insurrection Act of 1807. While the Insurrection Act does not impose martial law, it authorizes the president to use the U.S. military domestically when law enforcement cannot maintain order. It is one of the statutory exceptions to the Posse Comitatus Act.
With the No Kings protest coming up on Oct. 18, tensions between demonstrators and Republican leadership have risen.
In addition to Trump at Fort Bragg promising to use force against “anarchy” — explicitly referring to the protests over the military parade — House Speaker Mike Johnson called the No Kings rally a “Hate America” rally that would attract certain people in the Democratic Party, like the “pro-Hamas wing” and the “antifa people.”
“If people were being killed and courts were holding us up or governors or mayors were holding us up, sure, I’d do that,” Trump said, referring to the Insurrection Act.
“I think his claim is very specious, given he did not deploy the National Guard when there was an actual rebellion on Jan. 6, whereas there’s no insurrection going on in Portland,” said IB history teacher Jay Konik.
Whether or not Trump ultimately invokes the Insurrection Act, experts emphasize the importance of Americans continuing to exercise their First Amendment rights and remaining peaceful.
“It’s important that we all remain calm and keep things peaceful and legal while expressing our views and opinions,” Konik said.