{"id":44299,"date":"2025-10-01T22:34:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T05:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=44299"},"modified":"2025-10-01T22:34:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T05:34:11","slug":"deeply-un-american-trump-tells-generals-to-use-us-cities-as-military-training-grounds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/10\/01\/deeply-un-american-trump-tells-generals-to-use-us-cities-as-military-training-grounds\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Deeply Un-American\u2019: Trump Tells Generals to Use US Cities as Military \u2018Training Grounds\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"US<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

US President Donald Trump departs after addressing senior military officers gathered at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Quantico, Virginia, on September 30, 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0(Photo by Jim Watson\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWake up, people, the US is fast approaching a point of no return,\u201d warned one critic, who said the president\u2019s alarming rhetoric \u201ccomes right out of the fascism playbook.\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

BRETT WILKINS<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sep 30, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/trinitymedia.ai\/player\/trinity-player.php?pageURL=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Ftrump-us-cities-training-grounds&contentHash=f4589d0f0dc9ecd1a70ecf7b7b5c602f884b6ac23e29a5fc368d13755150d51c&unitId=2900021701&userId=647ef9a4-e06f-45c3-9534-ba2b8407d206&isLegacyBrowser=false&isPartitioningSupport=1&version=20250929_bc5f1af28d60f84d5ade96a68d2c121e84052269&useBunnyCDN=0&themeId=478&isMobile=0&unitType=tts-player&integrationType=web<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Donald Trump<\/a> told hundreds of senior military commanders Tuesday that the country is \u201cunder invasion from within\u201d and that they should use American cities as \u201ctraining grounds\u201d to target domestic \u201cenemies\u201d\u2014remarks that drew warnings of encroaching fascism as the president expands his invasion and occupation of US communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking<\/a> to nearly 800 US generals and admirals stationed around the world who were summoned to Quantico, Virginia by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for a highly unusual assembly<\/a>, Trump told military leaders they would be used against the American people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RECOMMENDED…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"No<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2018No Trump! No Troops!\u2019 Thousands March in Chicago as President Threatens \u2018War\u2019<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Protest<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

ICE Operation \u2018Midway Blitz\u2019 Underway as Authoritarian Trump Targets Chicago<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\u2019re vicious people that we have to fight,\u201d the president said, referring in this case to critical journalists, whom he called \u201csleazebags.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Trump begins speaking at the 1:09:45 mark in the following video)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/youtube.com\/watch?v=L6ZYK8cxFh8%3Frel%3D0\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJust like you have to fight vicious people, mine are a different kind of vicious,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump then said that cities \u201crun by the radical left Democrats… San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles\u201d are \u201cvery unsafe places, and we\u2019re gonna straighten them out one by one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd this is gonna be a major part for some of the people in this room,\u201d he continued. \u201cThis is a war too. It\u2019s a war from within.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Referring to Hegseth, Trump said, \u201cand I told Pete, \u201cwe should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=e30%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1973033792538583072&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Ftrump-us-cities-training-grounds&partner=rebelmouse&sessionId=630103767cf2e0f1394364c124ebcefc4d2d3424&siteScreenName=commondreams&siteUserId=14296273&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responding to this, Naureen Shah, director of government affairs at the ACLU\u2019s Equality Division, told Common Dreams<\/em> that when Trump said \u201cthe enemy within,\u201d he meant \u201cthose who disagree with him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t need to spell out how dangerous the president\u2019s message is, but here goes: Military troops must not police us, let alone be used as a tool to suppress the president\u2019s critics,\u201d Shah said. \u201cIn cities across the country, the president\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump also said during his Tuesday speech that \u201conly in recent decades did politicians somehow come to believe that our job is to police the far reaches of Kenya and Somalia while America is under invasion from within,\u201d a false assertion given centuries of US imperialism and colonization, first in the Americas and then around the globe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re under invasion from within, no different than a foreign enemy, but more difficult in many ways, because they don\u2019t wear uniforms\u2014at least when they\u2019re wearing a uniform you can take them out; these people don\u2019t have uniforms,\u201d Trump said. \u201cBut we are under invasion from within; we\u2019re stopping it very quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He then turned his attention to \u201cradical left lunatics, that are brilliant people but dumb as hell when it comes to common sense,\u201d falsely accusing the previous administration of opening US borders to Venezuelans after that country\u2019s government \u201cemptied its prison population into our country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In another lie, Trump said that \u201cWashington, DC was the most unsafe, the most dangerous city in the United States of America, and to a large extent, beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The president claimed that \u201cwe took out 1,700 career criminals\u201d during his recently launched takeover<\/a> of DC\u2014almost certainly another false statement given that more than 80%<\/a> of arrests made in the capital were for misdemeanor offenses, many of them immigration-related<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump said US troops are \u201cfollowing in a great and storied military tradition\u201d of presidents who have deployed military forces against \u201cdomestic\u201d enemies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cToday, I want to thank every service member from general to private who\u2019s helped secure the nation\u2019s capital and make America safe for the American people,\u201d he said, adding in another blatant lie<\/a> that \u201cwe haven\u2019t had a crime in Washington in so long.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going into Chicago<\/a> very soon,\u201d he said, although Operation Midway Blitz is already underway in the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow about Portland?\u201d he asked, adding in a comment utterly divorced from reality<\/a> that the laconic Oregon city \u201clooks like a war zone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump ordered troops to invade Portland despite the city ranking 72nd in violent crime<\/a> in the US, according to FBI data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an apparent moment of doubt, Trump asked<\/a> during a Sunday NBC News<\/em> interview, \u201cWell wait a minute, am I watching things on television that are different from what\u2019s happening?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recounting how Democratic Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek asked Trump to not deploy federal forces to Portland, Trump said during Tuesday\u2019s speech that \u201cunless they\u2019re playing false tapes, this looked like World War II. Your place is burning down.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amid small-scale protests in Portland over Trump\u2019s authoritarian Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) crackdown, Fox News<\/em> aired a report conflating<\/a> video footage from 2020 protests against the police murder of George Floyd<\/a> with the recent images. Anti-ICE protesters have burned an American flag and set small street fires in Portland, but no structures have been burned down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump also said that any anti-ICE protesters who throw objects at federal vehicles or agents can be met with unlimited force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou get out of that car, and you can do whatever the hell you want to do,\u201d the president said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Critics swiftly pushed back on Trump\u2019s suggestion of using American cities as military \u201ctraining grounds.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congressman Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), a former Marine Corps combat veteran who served multiple tours during the US invasion and occupation of Iraq, said<\/a> on the social media site X that \u201ctoday\u2019s speeches by Trump and Hegseth were weak portrayals of \u2018leadership\u2019 by two small, insecure men.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUS cities should never be \u2018training grounds\u2019 for the military,\u201d Moulton added. \u201cThere is no \u2018enemy from within.\u2019 The reputational and operational damage being done to our military will take years to undo.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Democratic Association of Secretaries of State said<\/a> on social media, \u201cThis is authoritarian, unconstitutional, and a direct threat to our democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cToday\u2019s speeches by Trump and Hegseth were weak portrayals of \u2018leadership\u2019 by two small, insecure men.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chris Rilling, a former senior official at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), said<\/a> on X: \u201cTrump should be impeached for this statement alone. Period.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some legal experts noted<\/a> that the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 prohibits<\/a> use of the military for domestic law enforcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leaders of the Not Above the Law Coalition\u2014which includes progressive groups such as Public Citizen<\/a>, MoveOn, and Stand Up America\u2014called Trump\u2019s remarks \u201cdeeply un-American.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis dangerous rhetoric delivered during an unprecedented gathering reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of our military\u2019s purpose and the people it serves,\u201d the coalition co-chairs said. \u201cMake no mistake: This isn\u2019t about public safety\u2014it\u2019s about turning our own military into a force to be used against Trump\u2019s perceived political opponents or anyone who questions his administration.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAmericans cannot stay silent when our leaders express plans to use our military against us,\u201d they added. \u201cWe must reject any attempt to normalize this outrageous and unlawful directive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Observers abroad also expressed shock at Trump\u2019s remarks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn Trump\u2019s speech today, Trump mentioned something very dangerous: using US cities (Democrat-run, I bet) as US troops training ground,\u201d said<\/a> Jos\u00e9 Antonio Salcedo, a professor at University of Porto in Portugal. \u201cThis is definitely contrary to the US Constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt comes right out of the fascism playbook that Project 2025 and its fringe lunatic authors have been advocating and planning,\u201d he added. \u201cWake up, people, the US is fast approaching a point of no return.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BRETT WILKINS<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brett Wilkins is a staff writer for Common Dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Bio ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

US President Donald Trump departs after addressing senior military officers gathered at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Quantico, Virginia, on September 30, 2025. \u00a0(Photo by Jim Watson\/AFP via Getty Images) \u201cWake up, people, the US is fast approaching a point of no return,\u201d warned one critic, who said the president\u2019s… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44299"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44299"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44299\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44301,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44299\/revisions\/44301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}