Donald Trump’s latest comments have reignited fears he could unleash military forces onto American streets under an 1807 law — one that’s barely been used in modern times and could cause utter chaos if invoked.
The president, known for his hardline stance on immigration and street protests, has repeatedly floated the idea of turning to the Insurrection Act, a centuries-old law that lets presidents use troops on US soil to put a stop to domestic uprisings.
While it sounds like something ripped from a dystopian film, the act is very real, and it’s the same one that allowed President Dwight Eisenhower to send soldiers to Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957 to protect Black students during school desegregation.
It was also used in 1992 by George H.W. Bush to stop the riots that erupted in Los Angeles after the Rodney King verdict.
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But here’s where things get murky: Trump has been threatening to bring it back, claiming he might use it to override governors and courts who block his moves to deploy troops to Democratic-led cities.
As Trump spoke from the Oval Office, he said: “If I had to enact it, I’d do that — if people were being killed and courts were holding us up, or governors or mayors were holding us up.”
It’s the same line he’s taken before. During the George Floyd protests in 2020, Trump threatened to invoke the act but stopped short. On the campaign trail in 2023, for next time, he promised: “I’m not waiting.”
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As for whether Trump actually enforces the Insurrection Act: yes, he technically could, but it’s not that simple.
Experts say the Insurrection Act gives the president massive discretion, yet it doesn’t make him untouchable.
Courts are often hesitant to challenge presidential military orders, with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals saying such decisions are given a ‘great level of deference’.
But as one Oregon judge put it when rejecting a previous Trump troop deployment: “‘A great level of deference’ is not equivalent to ignoring the facts on the ground.”
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Even so, using the military for domestic policing is a line most presidents have avoided crossing for good reason. America has a long tradition of keeping the armed forces out of civilian life — a principle enshrined in the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878.
The Insurrection Act acts as the exception to that rule, which is exactly why it’s so controversial.
A legal expert told the Guardian that invoking it could be dangerous. It risks troops being used in ways they wouldn’t normally be allowed, such as making arrests or conducting searches — actions reserved for the police in standard scenarios.
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In other words, Trump might be able to impose the 1807 law, but doing so could send the country down a road it hasn’t traveled in decades. And if history’s anything to go by, that road ends with soldiers patrolling American streets.
Topics: Donald Trump, Military, US News
Ben Williams