Obama rebukes Trump’s use of National Guard in cities: ‘inherently corrupting’
When Barack Obama speaks, people listen — not just because he’s a former president, but because he knows what leadership rooted in empathy sounds like.
On Marc Maron’s W-T-F podcast, Obama didn’t mince words about Donald Trump’s latest move to deploy military forces into American cities. He warned that America’s democracy is being “weakened deliberately.” Here’s part of what he had to say:
“When you have a military that can direct force against their own people, that is inherently corrupting.”
Think about that — soldiers, trained for war, taking orders to patrol the same neighborhoods they swore to protect. It’s not just un-American, it’s dangerous.
Since taking office for the second time, President Trump has made law and order his personal brand — sending the National Guard into Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Memphis, Portland and, most recently, Chicago — Obama’s own hometown. A federal appeals court has since blocked the deployment on Chicago’s streets, but allowed the Guard to remain under federal control. The Trump administration claims it’s all about protecting federal buildings during protests over ICE operations. But Obama isn’t buying that.
“If I had sent in the National Guard into Texas and just said, ‘You know what? A lot of problems in Dallas, a lot of crime there, and I don’t care what Gov. Abbott says, I’m going to kind of take over law enforcement, because I think things are out of control,’ it is mind boggling to me how Fox News would have responded.”
That’s a fair point. Because this isn’t about protecting buildings — it’s about power. And it’s about redefining who the “enemy” is. You’ll remember late last month, in an address to military leaders, Trump described “civil disturbances” as the “enemy from within,” and said this:
“I told Pete, we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military, National Guard but military.”
Training grounds? Our neighborhoods aren’t boot camps. Our citizens aren’t insurgents. Obama countered that vision perfectly: “We don’t want masked folks with rifles and machine guns patrolling our streets. We want cops on the beat who know the neighborhood and the kids around, and that’s how we keep the peace around here.”
Under the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, it’s generally illegal to use the military for civilian law enforcement. The Insurrection Act, which Trump has threatened to invoke, was meant for true emergencies — like rebellions, invasions and moments when states ask for help. The last time it was used was during the 1992 Los Angeles riots — and even then, at the governor’s request
So the question isn’t whether the president can use the military this way. It’s whether he should. Because when we start treating our own citizens like combatants, we lose something far greater than control — we lose trust, humanity and the very fabric of democracy.
Crime in our cities won’t be solved by troops in tactical gear. It’ll be solved by investing in people, through jobs, education and community-based policing that actually connects, not divides. Militarizing our streets might look strong on TV, but real strength isn’t about force — it’s about long-term collaboration between state and federal officials.
Lindsey Granger is a News Nation contributor and co-host of The Hill’s commentary show “Rising.” This column is an edited transcription of her on-air commentary.