US President Donald Trump is pushing for military operations against citizens within the country. This is a highly dangerous development. Military operations within the country to combat demonstrations and unrest are not part of the US military’s remit. Trump is initiating a paradigm shift here and leading the United States in the direction of a dictatorship.
The statements, but also the actions of the US president, clearly point in this direction. During his speech at the Quantico military base south of Washington in front of assembled military leaders, Trump recalled a decree he had recently signed:
“Last month, I signed an executive order to train a rapid response force that can help quell civil unrest in the country. This will be a big deal for the people here in this room, because it’s about the enemy within, and we have to address that before it gets out of control. But it won’t get out of control.”
Trump said the US was in a “war from within” and accused “radical left-wing Democrats” of exposing cities they govern, such as San Francisco, Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles, to uncontrolled crime and immigration. “Some of these dangerous cities should be used as military training grounds,” the New York Times quoted the US president as saying.
Military operations in cities governed by the Democratic Party
Trump has already ordered military operations in US cities such as Los Angeles and Washington, which are governed by the Democratic Party. He also recently ordered the National Guard to be deployed in Portland in the north-west of the US. Trump justifies this with protests against the immigration police ICE. The city and the US state of Oregon are fighting these military operations in court.
These are primarily intimidation tactics and demonstrations of power, as are typically seen in autocracies.
Trump is taking a very dangerous path that is causing massive damage to US democracy. And he clearly sees no limits. As a notorious liar, he invents emergencies to justify his military operations at home. It is very alarming that many of his supporters are uncritically following him on this path to dictatorship and that there are also people in European democracies who are blinded by this mafia-like loudmouth.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
Deutsche Version hier.