President Donald Trump on Tuesday proposed using American cities as training grounds for the armed forces and spoke of needing U.S. military might to combat what he called the "invasion from within." Addressing an audience of military brass abruptly summoned to Virginia, Trump outlined a muscular and at times norm-shattering view of the military's role in domestic affairs. He was joined by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who declared an end to "woke" culture and announced new directives for troops
President Donald Trump on Tuesday proposed using American cities as training grounds for the armed forces and spoke of needing U.S. military might to combat what he called the "invasion from within." Addressing an audience of military brass abruptly summoned to Virginia, Trump outlined a muscular and at times norm-shattering view of the military's role in domestic affairs. He was joined by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who declared an end to "woke" culture.
The president spoke in a wheezy, sleepy tone for more than an hour, on a stage clearly meant to resemble the movie Patton. His prepared remarks were full of dictatorlike complaints about "the enemy within," and justifications for using the military to police U.S. cities. But it was hard to track the major themes, as there were so many long, self-aggrandizing ad-libs.
During the presser Bowser was asked, Vice President JD Vance and Pete Hegseth are about to speak at Union Station, thanking the National Guard troops, do you think placing the troops at major transit hubs or monuments is the most strategic deployment instead of, say, high-crime areas? I don't think the National Guard should be used for law enforcement, Bowser replied, adding:
Recent actions by the Trump Administration, including the deployment of troops and a military parade, threaten to politicize America's military and jeopardize civil-military relations. President Trump has publicly criticized Democratic politicians during a speech at Fort Bragg, urging an audience to boo his opponents, which creates an impression of the military serving partisan interests.