According to Schwartz, Trump’s supporters include police, border guards, and the “far right wing” of the military. “I think before very long, its quite possible that he would find a way to declare martial law,” stated Tony Schwartz, ghostwriter for Trump’s Art of the Deal. So, a President Trump who grew tired of being criticized could have more than his Twitter account to put an end to opposition, and it would be “perfectly legal.” Such unwarranted exercise of presidential powers is predictable according to some who have gotten to know Trump well. From Trump’s approval of China’s quashing of peaceful student demonstrations in Tiananmen Square by bringing in tanks that (literally) crushed the peaceful protesters, to his praise for intolerant and oppressive dictators such as Russia’s Vladimir Putin, North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, Philippine’s Rodrigo Duterte, and Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, it is clear that Trump’s idea of power is the exercise of absolute, militaristic control, including the putting down of “civil unrest.” Viewed in this broader context, Trump’s military selections are therefore not surprising.Īnd, given Trump’s predilection for distorting reality, finding the occasion for declaring martial law would not be very challenging for him. Indeed, his own ideal of what exercise of power means attests to this. Predictably, Trump will use his authority to put down such expressions of democracy. Such antipathy fits well with Trump’s own personal attacks on the media, those who criticize him, and those who demonstrate peacefully against him. #If trump declares martial law for freeSo what comes next? All dictators have a strong disaffection for free speech, peaceful assembly, a free press, and all other civil liberties essential to democracy.
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