Readers Write: Trump’s military deployment plan

Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

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I read with delight that Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison are standing up to President Donald Trump’s deeply flawed plan to deploy military forces in Minnesota (“Walz: State will sue if Guard is sent,” Oct. 10). The president’s overreach of power and his attempt to intimidate political foes must be stopped.

There isn’t much that Ellison and I agree on, but I appreciated his words: “The bottom line is, friends, is that when the president starts siccing the military on the people, there’s a word for that,” he said. “It’s tyranny.”

Trump’s actions are not just reckless; they’re unconstitutional. Kudos to our elected officials for having the courage to defend the rule of law and the rights of Minnesotans.

Joe Lundequam, St. Paul

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The Chicago campaign is just one part of Trump’s war against the U.S. Constitution. His illegal tariffs are tanking the U.S. economy and will require a taxpayer bailout of farmers who have once again had their markets pulled out from under them — an echo of the exact same result of Trump tariffs in 2018. His war on blue states has crippled major infrastructure projects and education programs. His massive tax cut for the rich is at the expense of Medicaid, Medicare and Affordable Care Act subsidies that will cause millions of people to lose health coverage, plus defunding Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and other food shelf programs that millions of families rely on. Meanwhile he wages active war on his perceived enemies, weaponizing the Department of Justice to conjure up phony cases against individuals who have, in some way, tried to hold Trump accountable. He spews hateful, racist, misogynistic rhetoric and boldfaced lies on his Truth Social account creating ever-greater divisions among populations in our country.

If this country dissolves into civil war, one man, Donald J. Trump, will be fully responsible.

Robert Veitch, Richfield

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After reading the Oct. 9 Star Tribune article about the possibility of Trump sending National Guard troops into the Twin Cities, and after hearing many similar, national stories on TV news, I’d like to offer a friendly suggestion to Democratic mayors and governors. Given that many Democratic leaders on the news say, “We don’t need the National Guard since our crime rates have gone down,” my suggestion is that the Democratic leaders add this comment: “We would prefer zero crime in our communities. If Trump wants to spend taxpayer dollars, he should give these dollars to the communities and let them hire more local police officers and community resource personnel.” This would stress the desire for zero crime (Trump’s goal) and improving local policing. Many cities are hurting for police officers, so emphasize this, not taxes for outside National Guard troops.

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To all the governor and mayors, there is a simple solution: Do your job fighting crime and you will not have to sue the president to stop the president from fighting crime. Do you have any idea how stupid you appear to the people who simply want a safe city and home to live in? When you sue to stop deployment it appears you are suing to keep rampant crime in our cities. Simple, just do the job you were elected to do.

Bruce Granger, West Concord, Minn.

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Trump using the National Guard to put down insurrections in our “violent” cities reminds me of the joke about the hippie walking down the street snapping his fingers. A bystander asks him why he is doing that. The hippie says it’s to keep the elephants away. The bystander states, “I see no elephants.” The hippie declares, “See, it’s working.”

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Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, earlier this week claimed that Trump had “plenary authority” during a conversation about the deployment of the National Guard in Oregon. In the U.S., “plenary authority” is usually recognized as “complete power over a particular area with no limitations.” Miller also referred to Title 10 of the U.S. Code, which sets out the conditions for deployment of the National Guard. Our constitutional system, via separation of powers, uses checks and balances to ensure that no branch, including the president, can exercise complete control. I would like every voter to consider whether any president, Democrat or Republican, can be allowed this plenary authority after the courts have already ruled against it.

Harold Richter, Minneapolis

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I think anti-Trump protesters are doing a disservice to their cause. I don’t agree with Trump on most issues, but all the protests just feed into the narratives he makes up. If you haven’t noticed, Trump makes up his own issues/theories and then has his Cabinet members push what he thinks. It’s happened time after time.

Casey Zimmerman, Plymouth

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As Trump sends ICE and the National Guard into Democratic cities to create disturbances so that he can quell them for the TV cameras, and we watch these uniformed men and women in Chicago and Portland, I wonder about those serving in the military today. Kids can enlist in the National Guard as young as 17. They often join up to get out of where they are. They can serve their country. See the world. Have some excitement. Get school paid for.

ICE agents can sign up at 18, to “join ICE in its mission to arrest murderers, pedophiles, gang members, rapists, and other criminal illegal aliens from America’s streets,” according to the website of the Department of Homeland Security. It’s a great salary, a $50,000 bonus and tuition reimbursement. That sounds mighty enticing to an 18-year-old.

Many of the youngest enlistees only know what they have seen and heard in the last 10 years, and Trump has dominated the news all of their growing-up period. They were 8 years old when Trump came down that escalator, and it’s all a hoax, the other side is evil, illegal aliens are taking their jobs, and they want to serve their country. And they get to throw tear gas, pepper balls and flash bangs at people.

This is Trump’s legacy to this generation of young men and women.