Among those being mentioned for Trump’s secretary of defense are Christopher Miller, who served temporarily during his administration, Michael Flynn and Mike Pompeo.

Donald Trump is sparking fears among those who understand the inner workings of the Pentagon that he would convert the nonpartisan U.S. military into the muscular arm of his political agenda as he makes comments about dictatorship and devalues the checks and balances that underpin the nation’s two-century-old democracy.

A circle of appointees independent of Trump’s political operation steered him away from ideas that would have pushed the limits of presidential power in his last term, according to books they’ve written and testimony given to Congress. Most were gone by the end. In a new term, many former officials worry that Trump would instead surround himself with loyalists unwilling to say no.

Trump has raised fresh questions about his intentions if he regains power by putting forward a legal theory that a president would be free to do nearly anything with impunity — including assassinate political rivals — so long as Congress can’t muster the votes to impeach him and throw him out of office.

  • @Sterile_Technique@lemmy.world
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    911 months ago

    Donald Trump Hates The US Military - Long List Of Links

    ^copied from that other site for preservation sake. There’s been a good chunk of time since that list was posted and now, so I’m sure there’s plenty of material to add to it, so please comment if you have a link to add.

    But yeah, I was active duty when Trump was voted in, and him trying to run the military like a dictator was a concern on day one. Once my contract was up, this was a huge factor in my “FUCK NO!” when considering reenlistment.