When former President Donald Trump won an impressive re-election, national security wonks went wild with speculation on how Trump 47 would treat the Pentagon. The liberals portrayed the worst possible national security future, casting Trump as a tyrant who would use the active-duty military to impose his will on US citizens. Most of the gloom-and-doomers are "never-Trumpers" and have views of little relevance.
Trump Rapidly Forms National Security Staff
As the Trump Defense Department transition team starts to form its slate of Pentagon and other national security staff, what amounts to a fifth column is forming inside the five-sided building. Media reports show that Trump did not calculate how divisive what he called "the enemy within" really was. There seems to be a cadre of unnamed defense officials holding clandestine gatherings to devise ways to thwart their commander-in-chief. These people need to remember that 75 million voters repudiated their flawed point of view.
News of this despicable behavior was made public in a CNN report:
"Pentagon officials are holding informal discussions about how the Department of Defense would respond if Donald Trump issues orders to deploy active-duty troops domestically and fire large swaths of apolitical staffers, defense officials told CNN … Trump's election has also raised questions inside the Pentagon about what would happen if the president issued an unlawful order, particularly if his political appointees inside the department don't push back."
These reports could be chalked up to chatter among those in the suggestion-making class, always a noisy minority in any administration. These comments are troubling because these voices gain prominence through the mindless echo chamber of the conventional media. To set the record straight about what presidents can do and have done, take the phrase "how the Department of Defense would respond if Donald Trump issues orders to deploy active-duty troops domestically." This notion is a forecast for the darkest and most malevolent intentions, unprecedented in American history.
However, putting that phrase in historical context, Military.com explained past commanders-in-chief have used soldiers domestically six times. Which leads one to ask those worried about President Trump: "Do you mean like President Abraham Lincoln using federal troops to quell the New York City draft riots? Perhaps you are talking about President Herbert Hoover when he used the US Army, led by Gen. Douglas MacArthur, to remove veterans who set up an encampment on Capitol Hill, or in 1967 when President Lyndon Johnson called in the 82nd and 101st Airborne units to put down 'Detroit's 12th Street Riot,' or maybe you mean the use of 13,600 armed soldiers that restored order when riots erupted nationwide following the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. Maybe you are referring to the Los Angeles riots when several hundred Marines restored order in 1992." Should anyone forget, President Dwight Eisenhower deployed active-duty soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division in 1957 to escort nine black students to a newly integrated Central High School in Little Rock, AR.
In each of these instances, federal military forces were used domestically because it was necessary to preserve the lives and property of US citizens. That reasoning was precisely how President-elect Trump phrased his intentions about when federal troops would be needed. However, on a more practical level, Trump administration appointees will be swimming upstream, particularly in the Pentagon, to achieve the Trump agenda. For Secretary of State, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) steps up to take the position. Current Rep. Michael Waltz (R-FL) will be Trump's National Security Advisor. Fox News personality and veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars Pete Hegseth will be Secretary of Defense.
A Non-traditional Choice
Hegseth, Rubio, and Waltz will constitute the principal national security team; the most non-traditional choice is Hegseth to lead the Pentagon. However, he will have a mandate to turn the Defense Department from a den of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) activists into a fighting force capable of again deterring aggressors and, if deterrence fails, to defeat any adversary soundly. Many recent assessments of the US Armed Forces have questioned whether that is possible now.
Trump sees Hegseth as a no-nonsense, thoughtful leader who will bring back structure, order, and discipline to the Pentagon. Quoting Trump, The New York Times wrote, "Pete is tough, smart, and a true believer in America First. With Pete at the helm, America's enemies are on notice — our military will be great again, and America will never back down."
As the new administration nominees are announced, each has been selected to achieve the Trump agenda. Turning the massive ship of state from the path 60% of voters said is going in the wrong direction will be an immense undertaking and may be painful. However, America will be better for the effort.
The views expressed are those of the author and not of any other affiliate.
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