Chris Edelson writes:

Donald Trump has effectively declared war on U.S. cities that he perceives as enemy territory, expanding the military offensive he started this summer in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Last week, he ordered federal troops to Portland, Oregon, instructing them to use “full force” if necessary in order to respond to what he falsely described as a “war ravaged” city. After threatening to send the Texas National Guard to Chicago for over a month, the first wave of troops is set to deploy this week. Trump has also targeted Memphis and has made plans to invade San Francisco, New York City, and other major Democratic-run cities.

These troops would be in addition to the ICE agents and other federal law enforcement officers who have already been enlisted in a one-sided war against civilians—some of whom have been killed on the streets or in ICE custody and others wounded. Many have been captured, including during a recent raid in Chicago where federal agents reportedly broke down doors in an apartment building, “pulling men, women, and children from their apartments, some of them naked,” zip-tying some who were detained on site for hours and packing others into vans. At the same time that Trump is waging war within the United States, he is claiming the power that 18th-century British monarchs had to unilaterally go to war abroad.

This is not just unconstitutional action—it is anti-constitutional. Trump is attempting to erase the constitutional order itself. U.S. presidents do not have unilateral authority either to go to war abroad or at home against American cities; it is essential to emphasize this point as Trump aims to turn U.S. cities into occupied territories. What he is doing is so extreme that the constitutional system is not readily equipped to contemplate the possibility of what is happening. The Oath Clause in Article II requires presidents to swear to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.” What if the president himself seeks to dismantle the Constitution? Article IV provides that “The United States shall … protect each [state] against invasion.” What happens when the president uses the military and other federal agents to invade states? [Continue reading…]