Will Trump declare Martial law? The rumor, explored
Understandably, everyone’s worried about what rights the Trump administration will strip away next. There are rumors of a martial law swirling on the internet, but how much truth is there to this?
Let’s break down this rumor piece by piece. Reddit user u/IAmArique posted the thread “What’s going on with people suggesting that Trump will declare martial law on April 20th” a few days ago. A perfectly normal question to ask in this political climate. Another user by the name of u/Hands0L0 replied:
So, what’s all this about? Apparently, when you add Trump’s 90-day deadline to decide on invoking the 1807 Insurrection Act to January 20th, 2025, the date he was inaugurated, you get April 20, 2025. This is creepy because that’s actually Hitler’s birthday. But before we dive deeper into that, let’s talk about what that 1807 Act is.
What is the Insurrection Act of 1807?
The Insurrection Act of 1807 was passed on March 3, 1807, and is one of the most controversial federal laws in American history. In simple terms, the act gives the president full power to deploy military force against citizens to shut down rebellion and civil unrest. This law was weaponized by George H.W. Bush in 1992 during the Rodney King riots to suppress protests and riots. It was also used positively by Dwight Eisenhower in 1957 to enforce the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School.
It’s controversial because – in the wrong hands – it can give the president extreme overreaching powers to quell any resistance against their administration. As said by Newsweek, Trump is planning on carrying out the largest deportation in U.S history. Will a martial law actually happen on the date that the rumors talked about? It’s important to note that invoking the Insurrection act and invoking martial law are two different things.
Will Trump invoke Martial law?
As said by the Brennan Center For Justice, the president of the United States does not have the authority to invoke martial law. Martial law as a concept is very hazily defined and there’s no one-size-fits-all definition. In common language, it usually means suspending legal rights and enacting a unilateral military rule on a country’s population.
You may remember when South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol attempted to invoke Martial law back on December 3, 2024. That was in response to budget proposals and accusations towards the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK). This ultimately ended with Yeol’s impeachment on December 14, 2024.
Trump is an entirely different situation though. While he doesn’t have the formal power to enforce a martial law, he’s been rapidly purging military officials and replacing them with people who will do whatever he wants them to. This is frightening because if this course continues, there might not be much challenge to any hypothetical abuse of administration power.
While there is no legislative basis for a martial law, I think that the rumors are easy to believe. It’s a scary time filled with unpredictable politics in the United States, and anything could happen at this point.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
