President Donald Trump told U.S. military leaders Tuesday that fighting the “enemy from within” will be a “big thing” for them in a sign his administration is looking to send troops to even more U.S. cities.
Trump underlined his vision of using the military for domestic purposes, and not just foreign threats, while addressing hundreds of military officials who had been summoned to an in-person meeting at the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia, by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
During a free-wheeling speech that lasted an hour and 13 minutes, Trump touted signing an executive order last month to train a National Guard “quick reaction force” that can “help quell civil disturbances.”
“This is going to be a big thing for the people in this room, because it’s the enemy from within,“ Trump said. “And we have to handle it before it gets out of control.”
Trump has already deployed the National Guard to Washington, D.C., a federal district where he wields significant authority, and Los Angeles, and said over the weekend that troops would be dispatched to Portland, Oregon.
