Socialist Party Statement on Trump Troop Deployments

During his remarks to hundreds of military officials this week, Donald Trump suggested that U.S. cities could be used as "training grounds" for the military. President Trump has used his authority over the District of Columbia to patrol the city using National Guard troops. He also deployed the National Guard as well as active duty military to Los Angeles. He has already threatened to send troops to Portland, OR, Chicago, Memphis and other cities after making empirically false assertions about crime, and despite the objections of duly elected state and local authorities.

The President has justified his actions by claiming that the United States is "under invasion from within" by leftist political activists. The Socialist Party knows that this demonization of Americans who politically disagree with a President is extremely dangerous. The Socialist Party knows this intimately as it was decimated by the now infamous Palmer Raids, in which thousands of activists – including Socialist organizers – were illegally arrested, jailed and deported with at best a mockery of due process.

The Party opposes in the strongest terms the deployment of the U.S. military in a civil law enforcement role to any American cities.  Any suggestion that American cities will be used as training grounds for the military is a dangerous escalation of an already clear trend toward authoritarian means to enact policy priorities. This administration has used bullying and intimidation tactics in an effort to silence its critics and any it sees as an enemy; all to appease Donald Trump's malice vindictiveness.

We encourage those who want better for America to join us in building a country that works for working people, not the bosses and politicians. The America we want is not one the wages war on the streets of peaceful cities. The America we want is one where money goes to essential programs for education and healthcare, not tax cuts for millionaires and corporations.

Passed by the SPUSA National Executive Committee October 2, 2025