A member of federal law enforcement walks through tear gas in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S., January 14, 2026. REUTERS/Seth Herald
President Donald Trump escalated his rhetoric about unleashing domestic military force on American streets, threatening on Thursday to invoke the Insurrection Act in response to protests in Minneapolis — a move that could allow the deployment of active-duty troops, often described as a last resort.
After a federal agent shot a man in the leg in Minneapolis on Wednesday night — intensifying already high tensions in the Gopher State — Trump sent a warning to Minnesota elected officials.
“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, “I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State.”
Just one week earlier, he had told The New York Times that he had not yet invoked the Insurrection Act because, “I haven’t really felt the need to do it.”
CNN’s Alayna Treene noted, “In my conversations with Trump officials, they have so far been hesitant to go there — not only because of the legal complications, but perhaps more so, because of the political ones.”
But there appears to be at least some anecdotal support for him doing so among the far-right reaches of his party. Minutes after Trump issued his threat, Congressman Chip Roy’s office reposted video of the Texas Republican from earlier this week telling Fox News, “Of course, the president should use the Insurrection Act from 1807 to say, you know what, we can go out and stop this so we can enforce the law to protect the people of the United States under the Constitution.”
Wednesday night, in response to news of the shooting, journalist Wajahat Ali wrote, “This is the chaos and crisis that Stephen Miller and Trump want so they can invoke the Insurrection Act.”
CNN’s Aaron Blake summed up recent events, noting that “All at once, Trump is” threatening to take over Greenland, possibly by military force, threatening to strike Iran after having already conducted a military excursion in Venezuela, and now, threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act.
Journalist Michael A. Cohen remarked, “Send thousands of lawless ICE agents to Minnesota … create chaos and disorder by terrorizing immigrant communities … then invoke the Insurrection Act because of the chaos the federal government has created. It’s like the poor man’s version of the Reichstag fire.”
