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A group of 25 House Democratic veterans sent a letter Thursday to President Trump, calling his remarks to military leaders earlier this week “un-American.”
The letter, authored by Rep. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.) and signed by 24 other Democratic veterans, specifically criticized the president saying U.S. cities should be “training grounds” for the military Tuesday.
“They’re very unsafe places, and we’re going to straighten them out one by one,” Trump told more than 800 admirals and generals in Quantico, Va. “And this is going to be a major part for some of the people in this room. That’s a war, too. It’s a war from within.”
The Democratic veterans, blasting Trump’s speech as “overtly partisan,” said the president’s suggestion is “so deeply un-American it may break the fabric of our democracy and the bedrock principles of an apolitical military that this country was founded on.”
The Trump administration deployed National Guard troops to the nation’s capital in August while taking control over the local police force. That followed the deployment of California National Guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles in June amid protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids.
On Sunday, the Pentagon deployed 200 Oregon National Guard troops to Portland, over objections from Gov. Tina Kotek, state Attorney General Dan Rayfield and Portland Mayor Keith Wilson, all Democrats. Trump also created a task force made up of various federal law enforcement agencies to send to Memphis, with agents arriving in the city this week.
During his speech Tuesday, Trump also suggested that Chicago, which has seen an increase in federal immigration enforcement, could be next to receive a surge of guard troops.
Under the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and Space Force are barred from being used for civilian law enforcement. The National Guard is part of the Army and Air Force.
Trump’s actions, the letter claims, “will directly hurt our military in the long run — making every American less safe” and threaten the “bedrock principles of an apolitical military that this country was founded on.”
“Men and women who have sacrificed everything to serve in uniform should not and cannot be used as political pawns to wage war against your political foes,” the letter adds.
The letter comes after Ryan, who served two tours with the Army in Iraq, launched a PAC last week that seeks to recruit Democratic candidates with public service experience.
“I did not risk my life, 27 months in combat, to come and see U.S. troops in my own city or my own state,” Ryan told CNN on Thursday.
The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment on the letter.
