Former U.S. President Donald Trump sparked outrage on Thursday by suggesting on his social media platform that Democratic veterans in Congress should be hanged. This explosive statement was a response to a joint video released by the lawmakers, which urged American military service members to disobey unlawful orders from their superiors.
Trump's Social Media Posts Escalate Tensions
In a series of posts on Truth Social, the former president amplified a dangerous message from an anonymous user. The user's post, which Trump shared, explicitly stated, "HANG THEM GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD !!" This was a direct reaction to a news story about the video released by half a dozen veteran lawmakers.
Trump did not stop there. In his own message, he characterized the actions of the Congress members as "SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!" He further escalated his rhetoric in another post, writing, "It’s called SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL. Each one of these traitors to our Country should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL. Their words cannot be allowed to stand - We won’t have a Country anymore!!! An example MUST BE SET. President DJT."
The Legal Reality of Military Orders
Contrary to Trump's assertions, the video's message aligns with established U.S. military law. Every member of the armed forces swears an oath to the U.S. Constitution, not to an individual president or commander.
The Uniform Code of Military Justice forms the foundation of the military justice system. While service members can be court-martialed for failing to obey a lawful order, the 2024 manual for court-martials provides critical clarification. It states that an order is presumed lawful "unless it is contrary to the Constitution, the laws of the United States, or lawful superior orders."
Most importantly, the manual specifies that "This inference does not apply to a patently illegal order, such as one that directs the commission of a crime." The determination of an order's lawfulness ultimately rests with a military judge, underscoring the service member's right and sometimes duty to refuse illegal commands.
Political Fallout and Condemnation
The White House did not immediately issue a comment on the dangerous and potentially illegal nature of the former president's statements. However, backlash was swift from Capitol Hill.
Senator Chris Coons, a Democrat from Delaware and the ranking member on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, issued a strong condemnation. "Our service members swear an oath to uphold our Constitution, and the administration should never try to force them to carry out an illegal order," Coons stated.
He directly addressed Trump's calls for execution, saying, "Calling for the execution of senators and members of Congress for reminding our troops of that is chilling behavior we should expect from authoritarians like Orban or Putin, not the President of the United States." Coons concluded by calling on his Republican colleagues to publicly and swiftly condemn the remarks.
