Best Defense

Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Would the U.S. military follow President Trump’s orders?

Of course they would, if the orders were lawful. And I bet a few JAGs would put in a lot of overtime under a Trump Regency.

army.mil-2007-02-27-115522
army.mil-2007-02-27-115522

 

 

Of course they would, if the orders were lawful. And I bet a few JAGs would put in a lot of overtime under a Trump Regency.

My worry is a bit different: What if there is sufficient domestic instability after a Trump defeat that President H. Clinton decides to call out the National Guard, and gets resistance from Tea Partyist governors? The Guard is surprisingly politicized in some states, which I know will shock the readers of this blog.

In the above photo, an Arkansas National Guard lieutenant colonel turns away black students from the high school in Little Rock. This action provoked President Eisenhower to federalize the Arkansas NG and then, for good measure, call out an outfit he had used 13 years early in Normandy, the 101st Airborne.

Photo credit: U.S. Army

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1

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