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.

    • 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.