(Washington) Donald Trump on Thursday mentioned the death penalty for elected Democrats who called on the American military and intelligence agents to disobey “illegal orders” from his government.
“Trump has just called for death for elected Democrats. Absolutely infamous,” responded the Democratic Party on X.
“SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” », Wrote the American president on his Truth Social network.
He was accused by the opposition of using the army without legal basis for law enforcement operations on American soil and the fight against drug trafficking abroad.
In a message published shortly before on the same platform, Donald Trump had described these opponents as “traitors” with “seditious behavior”.
The six elected Democrats in the House of Representatives and the Senate, having themselves served in the army or the secret services, published a video on X in which they say to the military and intelligence agents: “You can refuse illegal orders. »
They believe that “this administration pits our uniformed military and intelligence professionals against American citizens.”
“Threats”
“Today, threats against our Constitution come not only from abroad, but also from here at home,” denounce these elected officials, including Senator Mark Kelly, a former member of the American Navy and NASA astronaut, or Senator Elissa Slotkin, who served for the CIA in Iraq.
The Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives denounced in a statement the “violent and unleashed rhetoric” of the American president, calling on him to delete his messages “before someone is killed”.
The six opposition elected officials received Thursday the support of a group claiming to represent “more than 360” former military and diplomatic officials, which accused the White House in a press release of “transforming a principle of fundamental law into political disagreement”.
According to their statement, disobedience to illegal orders “is the very basis of civilian control over the army.”
The elected Democrats do not specify in their video which orders they are referring to, but Donald Trump and his faithful ally at the Pentagon, Minister Pete Hegseth, are criticized for their use of the armed forces.
The president ordered the deployment of the National Guard in several Democratic cities, including Los Angeles and Washington, against the advice of local authorities.
“Extrajudicial executions”
He justified the deployment of this army reserve corps by what he presents as an increase in crime.
In recent weeks, the United States has also carried out around twenty strikes in the Caribbean and the Pacific against boats that it accuses – without presenting evidence – of transporting drugs, causing at least 83 victims.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, urged Washington to investigate the legality of these strikes, finding “strong indications” of “violations of international humanitarian law” and “extrajudicial executions”.
The Department of Justice assured him on November 12 that these strikes had “been ordered in accordance with the laws of armed conflict and therefore constitute lawful orders.”
Before Donald Trump, other senior White House officials had attacked the call of the six opposition elected officials.
“Democratic officials are openly calling on the CIA and military leaders to rebel against their Commander-in-Chief. “Don’t underestimate how dangerously radicalized the Democratic Party has become,” White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller responded Wednesday on X.
