'Indication of dictatorship': Retired general sounds alarm over Trump's use of military
A senior military officer, wearing uniform adorned with service ribbons and badges, attends a meeting convened by U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, at Marine Corps Base Quantico, in Quantico, Virginia, U.S., September 30, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Former National Guard Vice Chief Major General Randy E. Manner strongly criticized President Donald Trump's deployment of National Guard troops to U.S. cities, saying it is a "full indication of dictatorship and intimidation in the use of the military."
During an appearance on CNN Wednesday, Manner compared the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials conducting raids across the country to the Gestapo of 1930s Germany, adding that they "act like a mob."
The retired major general went on to say that the administration is “trying to create false flags" in which ICE agents are killed so it can secure a pretext to expand its use of the military.
Manner also observed that National Guard troops are different from ICE agents.
"They cover their faces. They want anonymity. They look like a bunch of Proud Boys," he said of ICE officials, but he added that the National Guard troops "are not undisciplined thugs."
"They are your sons and daughters in uniform, and you should treat them that way," he said of the National Guard.
President Donald Trump has escalated deployment of federalized National Guard troops in multiple U.S. cities under the guise of curbing “crime,” even as state and local leaders (from Illinois to Oregon and D.C.) have filed legal challenges arguing these moves violate the Constitution, the Posse Comitatus Act, and states’ sovereignty.
Earlier on Wednesday, NBC reported that White House advisers are now seriously weighing whether Trump might invoke the Insurrection Act — an obscure law from the early 1800s that permits the use of active-duty military troops within U.S. borders for law enforcement duties.
