Yes, America does have a law-and-order problem. It’s the president of the United States.

Throughout U.S. history, the best presidents have sparingly sought to use federal forces not to exacerbate tensions but as a last resort to de-escalate violence, protect constitutional rights and restore order. Whether Democratic or Republican, when faced with a challenge, these presidents recognized that inflaming violence could lead to loss of life or destruction of property.

Yet this week, we have seen just that: dramatic and chaos-inducing overreach by President Donald Trump as he activated National Guard and Marine troops on questionable legal grounds in a state that didn’t need them and hadn’t requested them.

Moreover, the open-ended nature of the administration’s order can be applied not only in Los Angeles but also beyond next week. This clear power grab represents the long-held goal of a president who wants to use the military as his personal police force.

U.S. history offers few cases where an American president activated National Guard troops over the objection of state authorities. We have to look abroad to find examples where a government unilaterally deployed the military against demonstrators. And those examples aren’t great.

In 1989, China deployed its military to suppress demonstrations in Tiananmen Square. In 2017, Venezuela’s government implemented Plan Zamora to mobilize its military in response to social and political protests. In 2021, the Burmese government used its military to crack down on protesters — a move that led to widespread violence and a civil war that continues today. All three of these nations used the pretext of civil unrest to expand central government authority, resulting in civilian casualties.

To date, local authorities in Los Angeles have proven their ability to manage the situation on the ground. The Pentagon estimates that the current deployment of military forces will cost at least $134 million. Those resources would be better spent reimbursing local law enforcement for overtime costs related to protest response. The administration’s claim that an insurrection and foreign invasion are happening is simply false, and California’s attorney general has asserted in a lawsuit that the president’s order is unlawful. All of this comes less than six months after Trump pardoned convicted seditionists for their violent attack on the 2020 vote count at the Capitol. So much for the law-and-order president.

Where are the champions of states’ rights as the authorities of the California governor and Los Angeles mayor are being trampled upon? We need look no further than Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who last year tweeted that “federalizing the National Guard would be a direct attack on states’ rights.” She went on to say as part of an interview with Sean Hannity that her home state of South Dakota “defends the Constitution.”

Republican Congressman Randy Weber of Texas also said last year that usurping or federalizing the National Guard “not only constitutes an overstep but also flagrantly violates constitutional bounds.” At the time, more than 20 House Republicans agreed with him.

While Noem and Weber’s amnesia may not be a surprise, their silence does expose a critical point. The Trump administration is eager to exercise raw power to target immigrants in a blue state while doing far less to target businesses in red states like South Dakota, which has meat-packing plants with migrant workers.

This is because the maelstrom Trump created is about much more than immigration. What we’re seeing play out is much broader — a president who sees an opportunity to reorder the use of power and potentially use it against U.S. citizens he dislikes.

As we’ve seen elsewhere in history, these are the early, chilling moves of an authoritarian government. Unless the American public and its leaders are willing to call out Trump’s authoritarian actions on a bipartisan basis, we should expect to see continued expansion of these abuses of power. The American people must stand up before it’s too late.

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ABOUT THE WRITER

Damian Murphy is the senior vice president for national security and international policy at the Center for American Progress. He wrote this for InsideSources.com.

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