'Installing loyalists': How Trump could use the military to render 'the courts powerless'

During his first term, President Donald Trump spent a lot time fighting with his own appointees — including a secretary of state (Rex Tillerson), a U.S. attorney general (Jeff Sessions), a White House chief of Staff (John F. Kelly), and a national security adviser (John Bolton), among many others. But Trump's second presidency is much different.

This time, Trump is avoiding such conflicts by trying to fill the U.S. government with as many MAGA loyalists as possible.

In an article published by the conservative website The Bulwark on May 29, journalist Will Saletan warns that Trump is trying to undermine the United States' system of checks and balances by installing unquestioning loyalists in the U.S. military.

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"When Donald Trump tried to stay in power after losing the 2020 presidential election," Saletan explains, "he lacked one crucial asset: the military. The armed forces stayed out of the fight, putting loyalty to the Constitution above loyalty to the president. In his second term, Trump is working to rectify that mistake. He's not just purging generals and installing his own loyalists. He's also encouraging rank-and-file service members to side with him against anyone who stands in his way, including the courts."

Saletan adds, "Two weeks ago, Trump spoke to American troops at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. Not once did he thank them for serving the United States. Instead, he thanked them for supporting him politically."

When Trump addressed U.S. troops in another speech, Saletan recalls, he "joked about running for a third term" bragged, "We're driving the left crazy."

Saletan argues, "This dig at the American left was an implicit move to enlist service members in domestic politics, even — in the case of a proposed third term — to the point of defying the Constitution."

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One of the president's speeches to troops, Saletan warns, "sounded like an invitation to stand with Trump in any confrontation with the judiciary."

"If the military were to stand with Trump," Saletan warns, "the courts would be powerless. (Vice President) JD Vance made that point to Trump in a podcast four years ago: 'When the courts stop you, stand before the country like Andrew Jackson did, and say, 'The chief justice has made his ruling. Now let him enforce it'…. Maybe, in the end, Trump won’t run for a third term. Or if he runs and loses, maybe he’ll acknowledge defeat."

Saletan continues, "Or if he wins, but the Supreme Court says a third term is unconstitutional, maybe he'll accept that ruling. But if he doesn't acknowledge defeat — or if he doesn't accept the Court's decision — who’s going to stop him?

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Will Saletan's full article for The Bulwark is available at this link.