Experts in constitutional law and the military say the Insurrection Act gives presidents tremendous power with few restraints. Recent statements by former President Donald Trump raise questions about how he might use it if he wins another term.

Campaigning in Iowa this year, Donald Trump said he was prevented during his presidency from using the military to quell violence in primarily Democratic cities and states.

Calling New York City and Chicago “crime dens,” the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination told his audience, “The next time, I’m not waiting. One of the things I did was let them run it and we’re going to show how bad a job they do,” he said. “Well, we did that. We don’t have to wait any longer.”

Trump has not spelled out precisely how he might use the military during a second term, although he and his advisers have suggested they would have wide latitude to call up units. While deploying the military regularly within the country’s borders would be a departure from tradition, the former president already has signaled an aggressive agenda if he wins, from mass deportations to travel bans imposed on certain Muslim-majority countries.

A law first crafted in the nation’s infancy would give Trump as commander in chief almost unfettered power to do so, military and legal experts said in a series of interviews.

    • The Snark Urge@lemmy.worldEnglish
      42·
      11 months ago

      I think people are forgetful of the daily hell his presidency was. Every day was stressful, and we discovered “outrage fatigue”. He keeps warning us that he plans to be even worse, and corporate news is champing at the bit for those angry clicks. My personal aims at the ballot (aside from any policy preferences) will be to keep politics boring.

    • CatsGoMOW@lemmy.worldEnglish
      20·
      11 months ago

      “This jackass doesn’t have a chance in hell of winning.”

      Which is what many people thought in 2016. Get your ass out there and vote. And bring your friends and family with you.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
      12·
      11 months ago

      If he does, the country is truly broken and I will be looking to flee…

      By then, it could be too late to flee.

    • Everythingispenguins@lemmy.world
      9·
      11 months ago

      Just remember, due to the electoral college the election is going to be decided by a few hundred thousand people in just a handful of states. In reality it is not a very high bar to cross. Do not take his loss for granted.

        • AA5B@lemmy.world
          4·
          11 months ago

          The guy is pretty good at speaking up about himself and was a well known real estate grifter for years. Then the things he talked about on the campaign trail weee completely off the wall …… I don’t see how anyone didn’t know. Granted the continuous outrage machine was a lot more stressful than I expected

          • Serinus@lemmy.world
            2·
            11 months ago

            I did everything I could to stop him in 2016, but after he was elected I’d hoped that maybe his tariffs on China could do some good.

            I have no such hope for a single positive thing this time.

    • admiralteal@kbin.social
      81·
      11 months ago

      The country is ABSOLUTELY broken.

      Even now there are people who look at a close election between Biden and Trump and genuinely think “Well, I don’t like Biden, so I won’t vote / will throw my vote away instead of voting against Trump.”

      You have racists, morons, and fascists voting for Trump.

      You have irrational moron progressives who will refuse to ever vote for anyone with a D no matter how bad the alternative and no matter how much good that democrat has provably done.

      And you have dispirited progressives just trying to get their peers to show up to the polls and do the minimum possible effort. We’re seriously fucked because of this.

    • ThrowawayOnLemmy@lemmy.world
      3·
      11 months ago

      Interestingly enough, the most fervent Trump supporters that I know are non-voters. I asked several of them if they planned on voting in the presidential election and they all said no. They Don’t want to register with the government.