President Donald Trump claimed that he can deploy any branch of the military in American cities as part of his ongoing domestic crackdown on protests against ICE actions.
Trump has activated National Guard troops and deployed them to cities throughout the country in his second term. The deployments have been met with a host of legal challenges. Speaking to the press aboard Air Force One on Wednesday, Trump said he could go even further, telling reporters he could send in the “Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines” if he wanted.
“If I want to enact a certain act, I’m allowed to do it, routinely,” Trump said. “I’d be allowed to do whatever I want.”
Trump said that the courts would not be able to stop his domestic troop deployments if he invoked the act, but he hasn’t felt the need to cross that bridge.
“I could send the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, I could…send anybody I wanted,” Trump said. “But I haven’t done that because we’re doing so well without it.”
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Trump has deployed the National Guard to Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and Memphis, drawing intense criticism from rival politicians and sympathetic influencers alike. The president has claimed deployments successfully caused a downturn in crime rates, telling reporters this week that the capital deployment “continues to be amazing” and that Memphis “is doing really well.”
See Trump’s comments below via YouTube:
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