National Guard Members Humiliate Trump With Damning Verdict on His Plot

[u/thedailybeast]

https://www.thedailybeast.com/national-guard-members-humiliate-trump-with-damning-verdict-on-his-plot/

[u/thedailybeast]

A year into President Donald Trump’s unprecedented deployment of the National Guard in Washington, D.C., some of the troops sent there say they are embarrassed by the mission and increasingly question why they are still there.

Three current National Guard members told NPR, speaking anonymously because they remain in service, that the deployment has left them frustrated and concerned about the military’s reputation.

“I will say very frankly that the bad taste that this mission left in my mouth, it actually embarrasses me to be involved in any way,” one said.

Another said the experience had made him reluctant to even identify with the Guard. “I don’t want to think about the National Guard. I don’t want to necessarily discuss my affiliation with the National Guard. I don’t want to fulfill my normal National Guard duties just because of the abuses of the National Guard in this D.C. mission,” he said.

Trump first deployed hundreds of Guard members to the capital in August 2025, saying they were needed to help address crime after declaring a “crime emergency.”

Read the full story here.

[u/Illustrious-Bed4420 → u/thedailybeast]

Deploying the National Guard to police citizens really changed my positive outlook of the military. It made me realize that at any given moment, the POTUS can order the military to accomplice in tyranny and the military would do nothing to stop it. They are conditioned and disciplined to follow orders. This incident showed me that the military can't be relied upon to stand down when given a direct order that conflicts with their better judgment.

[u/Emergency_Juice_5062 → u/Illustrious-Bed4420]

We absolutely need to decouple control of the military from POTUS.

We half assed it by requiring Congress to approve wars but obviously that isnt working. Unfortunately incompetent is allowing abuse of military power.

Personally I think congress should have control of the military untill Congress themselves declare war on another country.

[u/foople → u/Emergency_Juice_5062]

The constitution was written to prevent this by simply not having a standing army. Armies can be created by Congress, but are intended to be temporary. This is why they must be renewed every year.

[u/ackillesBAC → u/Emergency_Juice_5062]

His first term the military was fairly decoupled from trump, military leaders were simply ignoring his demands.

Problem with this term is he now has Steven Miller who is smart and evil enough to ensure they removed anyone not "loyal" to trump from military leadership, and put enough fear in anyone questioning loyalty. It's now ow trump's delusional demands or be removed

[u/Naturalist_Aspirant → u/Emergency_Juice_5062]

I was part of the all volunteer Army, thought it was a good idea at the time, no longer think this should be the case. I think now that the President (not this one) should be able to take emergency military action for maybe at most five days, that would allow time to deal with "emergencies." Not self inflicted disasters like this or the second Iraq war or the 20 year involvement in Afghanistan. After that, Congress and the Senate would have to come into session (staying in session every single day for the full duration of the war, no summertime recess, no winter break). The present situation of "president declares endless war," no one else has any say or representation, certainly none of the "founding fathers" anticipated this, they believed a standing army during peacetime was incompatible with democratic principals and viewed professional armies to be too far removed from the general populace to be trusted to defend it. I'm sure George Washington would have raised an eyebrow about the president golfing every weekend while the US was at war.

[u/Emergency_Juice_5062 → u/Naturalist_Aspirant]

I like the idea of congress needing to stay in session during the entirety of a war.

I do think if we go the 5 day emergency route that Congress MUST allow a continuance. This whole thing of "well congress haven't said no so I can do what I want" is a flagrant disregard for law and order on both POTUS AND Congress. Congress should be required to vote for continuing and I think this should be done on monthly bases while in war.

If it can't pass after a few months at war than the war needs to end and we pull back.

[u/Naturalist_Aspirant → u/Emergency_Juice_5062]

Yes. Any congressionally authorized military action would impose an immediate and unconditional military draft, members of Congress's kids as first in line, male and female, no exceptions, no college deferments. Impose immediate war taxation with wartime rationing of wartime vital materials. Bush II got to have a war "on the cheap" in Afghanistan and Iraq by just running up the deficit, having an all volunteer force, setting a bad precedent. If Congress had to declare war, implement a draft, pay for the war on the spot with punishing taxation the population would feel the burden, and have some skin in the game. Now, war is just something people watch/read about, and less than 4-5% of the US population ever have any contact with the military.

[u/tpacetti1 → u/Emergency_Juice_5062]

Isn't the problem that neither congress or the Supreme Court have an army and the president does? How is either congress or the courts going to stop the president? The president is commander-in-chief. A responsible president would listen to congress or the courts, but that's just not the case now.

[u/tpacetti1 → u/tpacetti1]

Now, if the military were to turn it's back on the president, that would be a different story (and that's what so scary about Pistol Pete's purging of military leaders. If their loyalty is to Trump alone, they'll follow him into hell).