The Further Fracturing Of Democracy - Trump Warns of 'War From Within' in Speech to Top Generals
By: TIME
The rapid authoritarian tentacular constriction around the failing United States of America’s governmental institutions and norms is quite obvious to anyone who is paying any kind of attention to the words and actions of Trump and his administration. Well, except the people actually in the United States. The majority of people here still seem to be living in a dream world where elections and institutions will just go on like they always have, unaccepting of the fact the Trump and company have already torn down so much of the institutional infrastructure and crossed so many lines that were before considered sacrosanct that there is no way out of this predicament but to go through it to the other side.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
President Donald Trump on Tuesday signaled that he would make greater use of the U.S. military to quell disturbances in Democratic-run cities across the United States, warning of a "war from within" and comparing domestic threats to foreign enemies.
"The ones that are run by the radical left Democrats... 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. This is going to be a major part for some of the people in this room," he said in a speech to military leaders. "That's a war too. It's a war from within."
Trump's comments were delivered in a speech to almost 800 generals, admirals and senior enlisted advisors who had traveled to a military base in Quantico, Virginia, from around the world at short notice on the orders of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
In a deeply political address, the president criticized his predecessor, Joe Biden, railed against "radical left lunatics," and announced he would make use of the military more frequently for domestic purposes.
"We should use some of the dangerous cities and training grounds" for the military, Trump said. He added that he's given an order to create military "quick reaction forces" to "help quell civil disturbances." Deploying the military for civilian law enforcement would violate the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878.
"We are under invasion from within," he said, "no different than a foreign enemy, but more difficult in many ways, because they don't wear uniforms."
Trump's crackdown in American cities
The meeting comes amid concern over Trump's increasing use of the military for domestic purposes in his second term. In recent months, he has deployed troops to cities across the country, raising concerns about the stifling of dissent against his unpopular government.
Trump announced on Saturday that he had directed the Pentagon to send troops to "protect" Portland, Oregon, adding that he was authorizing "full force, if necessary."
In June, Trump deployed 2,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to Los Angeles to quell immigration protests—a move that was later deemed illegal by a federal judge. Then in August, he deployed the National Guard and federal agencies to Washington, D.C., and federalized the police force ostensibly to combat crime, even as crime had been falling in recent years.
It also comes as the Trump Administration is launching a widespread crackdown on what it describes as "left-wing terrorism" in the wake of the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. That has involved declaring Antifa a terrorist organization and directing federal agencies to investigate and disrupt liberal philanthropic organizations.
Military members look on before US President Donald Trump addresses senior military officers gathered at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Quantico, Virginia, on September 30, 2025. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday the US military must fix "decades of decay" as he addressed a rare gathering of hundreds of senior officers summoned from around the world to hear him speak near Washington. Jim Watson—AFP via Getty
Trump's comments drew criticism from lawmakers and civil liberty groups.
Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the senior Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee and a former officer in the 82nd Airborne Division, called Trump's speech "divisive and corrosive."
"His reckless suggestion that American cities be used as 'training grounds' for U.S. troops is a dangerous assault on our democracy, treating our own communities as war zones and our citizens as enemies," Reed said in a statement.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said on X: "This speech should terrify anyone who cares about our country. Declaring war on our nation's cities and using our troops as political pawns is what dictators do. This man cares about nothing but his own ego and power."
Naureen Shah, director of government affairs of the Equality Division at the American Civil Liberties Union, called Trump's speech "dangerous."
"Military troops must not police us, let alone be used as a tool to suppress the President's critics," she said in a statement. "In cities across the country, the president's federal deployments are already creating conflict where there is none and instilling profound fear in people who are simply trying to live their lives and exercise their constitutional rights. Our country and democracy deserve far better than this," she added.
Throughout the speech, Trump repeatedly sought to justify his crackdown on what he perceived to be his domestic enemies.
"Our history is filled with military heroes who took on all enemies, foreign and domestic," he said. "That's what the oath says, foreign and domestic."
"Many of our leaders used the military to keep peace. Now they like to say, Oh, you're not allowed to use the military," he added.
When Trump started the speech, none of the hundreds of command officers applauded, keeping with a tradition of not applauding political leaders in order to show that the military's role is set apart from American politics. Trump said he'd never walked into a room so silent. "If you want to applaud, you can applaud," he told the officers. "If you don't like what I'm saying, you can leave the room—of course, there goes your rank and your future. You just feel nice and loose, okay, because we're all on the same team."
Trump also used the speech to criticize his political opponents.
"Biden let people come in from prisons, mental institutions, drug dealers, murderers," Trump said. "They did not treat you with respect. They're Democrats, they never do," he added.
"You'll never see four years like we had with Biden and a group of incompetent people that ran this country," he said.
Trump has received criticism for politicizing the military in the past. He delivered a highly political speech in June to a crowd of uniformed soldiers at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, in which he called on the crowd to boo Biden and attacked "radical left lunatic" politicians.
Hegseth's new policies
Prior to Trump's arrival, Hegseth outlined several new policies and standards for the military that are in line with Trump's agenda. He called for implementing a "highest male standard" for combatants, dispelling "woke garbage," and telling generals that they should resign if they disagree with his agenda. This is the end, he said, of politically correct leadership.
"Foolish and reckless political leaders set the wrong compass heading and we lost our way. We became the 'Woke Department,'" Hegseth said. "But not anymore."
"An entire generation of generals and admirals were told that they must parrot the insane fallacy that our diversity is our strength," he said.
Hegseth referenced the more than a dozen senior generals whom he fired at the beginning of his tenure as Secretary of Defense, many of whom were people of color and women.
He also said that the Defense Department will undertake a "full review" of bullying and hazing rules to "empower leaders to enforce standards without fear of retribution or second-guessing," arguing that the definition of hazing has been "weaponized" to undercut commanders.
"If that makes me toxic, so be it," he said
Hegseth outlined stringent physicality and dress standards that were not intended to prevent women from serving, but it "could be the result."
"If women can make it excellent, if not, it is what it is," he said.
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Any illusion of normalcy should be ripped like the blindfold that it is from your eyes
And also because many "people" walking around are no longer in control of their actions.
Why?
Because many aliens have secretly landed their flying saucers, and have come out and secretly seized control of Earth Peoples bodies and brains!
(a true "invasion from within")
We are well past the point of Trump merely pushing the envelope. He clearly has no respect for the rule of law, the CotUS, legal precedent, ethics, fairness, responsible governance, morality, humanity, etc. He is a vindictive 5th grader with the car keys and unlimited cash.
Anyone still supporting this corrupt buffoon must have built one hell of a private, special reality in their minds to not recognize that we are currently dealing with the worst PotUS in US history. And it is just going to get worse.
What? I can't hear you over the TikTok videos /s
Anyone still defending this regime is probably complicit.
When Trump said he would be a "dictator on day one" at his rallies all his supporters said he was just joking.
Also at his rallies his supporters say they love him because "he tells it like it is".
Which is it? He jokes? He tells it like it is? He is a proven liar a hundred times over, but amongst the avalanche of lies he throws out what is called a joke, but the joke is the truth.
He is clearly being installed as a dictator with the court giving him immunity for "official acts" even when those acts break our laws and Constitution.
It's no joke that the dictator is here and MAGA should own up to it.
MAGA loves the law but loves Trump when he breaks the law. They claim to love the Constitution but don't speak out as it's being torn apart. They claim they love our troops but sit back as veterans lose care and benefits to DOGE cuts.
Seems like they love their golden idol and his attempts to turn the White House into a golden palace like all the other dictators in the world is no big deal. How long until he designs a new flag with a big "T" in gold letters to fly on the 2 new massive flag poles taxpayers just paid for?
The new Golden ballroom that no MAGA will ever get to see beyond a photo is going forward even as our government shuts down while Republicans who hold all branches of government blame the minority party who is not in charge.
My favorite is "take him at his word" no, wait "take him for his actions"
They're so damned confused they don't whether to shit or get off the pot
I imagined that the divisiveness in political philosophy is growing to such an extent that "War from within" means that the next one will be Right vs Left.
That is exactly what "the war from within " means. Trump is not bothering to even try to shroud his comments in plausible deniability anymore, but says them in straightforward and unambiguous terms.
If we have enemies within, they reside within the Trump administration and people fulfilling the words thereof.
Never since the Civil War has the United States been confronted with a graver threat to democracy than the Trump regime.
It all started with a parade ... and now it is out of control
It started long before the parade.
How much more incriminating evidence does one need before they can determine that the Trump Administration, Congress, The SCotUS, along with plenty of the billionaires, are all in bed and waiting for the moment when they are all insulated from the blowback that the citizenry of the country by the military? How long do we actually have to make a difference? The administration is not taking its time in making the changes necessary to bring about this transformation to an "illiberal democracy".
Now is the time to stand and be counted. Write, phone, and email your congressional representatives. Make yourselves seen and heard. Join groups that are uniting and pushing back against the government's draconian actions. If there are no groups near you, start one under the auspices of a group whose ends you agree with.
I agree but the adjectives describing the parade describe trump's attitude and actions every day of his presidency
Well, I am glad that at least some of the people are awake to what is happening.
So, the question remains how can we, as a community of citizens of the USA, stop what is occurring in our government under our control, alter the course of the same to make it listen and abide by the rules set down in our constitution and laws?
we have to vote in the mid terms
For whom?
Are you organizing?
Are you part of any groups that can advocate for or against certain policies or procedures?
Whom? anyone but the incumbent
and no, much to my embarassment I'm not organzing or a part of any groups