Trump wants to use U.S. cities as military 'training grounds.' Can judges stop him?

"President Trump warned the country's top ranking military officials Tuesday that they could be headed to "war" with U.S. citizens, signaling a major escalation in the ongoing legal battle over his authority to deploy soldiers to police American streets. "What they've done to San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles - they're very unsafe places, and we're going to straighten them out one-by-one," Trump said in an address to top brass in Quantico, Va., on Tuesday. "That's a war, too. It's a war from within.""

""He is suggesting that they learn how to become warriors in American cities," said Daniel C. Schwartz, former general counsel, National Security Agency, who heads the legal team at National Security Leaders for America. "That should scare everybody. It's also boldly illegal." The use of soldiers to assist with federal immigration raids, crowd control at protests and otherwise enforcing civilian laws has been a point of contention"

"That deployment was illegal, a federal judge ruled this fall. In a scorching 52-page decision, U.S. District Court Judge Charles R. Breyer barred soldiers under Trump's command from carrying out law enforcement duties across California, warning of a 'national police force with the President as its chief.' Yet hundreds of troops remained on the streets of Los Angeles while the matter was under litigation."

President Trump warned top-ranking military officials they could face "war" with U.S. citizens and urged commanders to use American cities as "training grounds" to address unsafe urban areas. Oregon filed a legal challenge, and experts criticized the proposal as unlawful. Daniel C. Schwartz called the suggestion that troops learn to be "warriors in American cities" frightening and "boldly illegal." Earlier deployments of federalized National Guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles in June prompted litigation. U.S. District Court Judge Charles R. Breyer ruled that such deployment was illegal, barred soldiers from law enforcement duties across California, and warned against a "national police force." Hundreds of troops remained on Los Angeles streets during appeals.

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