HAS THE WAR AGAINST AMERICANS BEGUN? October 3, 2025

Did last Tuesday’s Quantico, Virginia, ingathering of generals and admirals tip the scales towards Donald Trump conducting a war against Americans?

Since January, Trump has grabbed more and more executive power while Congress—make that Congressional Republicans—has stood abjectly by. At Quantico, Trump addressed the nation’s top military commanders and their aides. His remarks followed those of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. “Secretary of War” if Congress approves the departmental name change. Or, possibly, doesn’t. 

Hegseth berated the attendees—men, and women, with vastly more military experience and knowledge than he has. Tighter haircuts, he ordered, would be required of the troops. Beards (“beardos,” he said) are out except for Special Forces/Special Ops. Everyone, from four-star generals and admirals down will take regular physical training (PT) and pass a PT test twice a year.

The rotund, orange-faced, comb-over Commander-in-Chief? Free pass.

Newsflash #1: Generals and admirals don’t engage in firefights in the field or fire weapons from ships and planes. Their responsibilities involve strategic planning and implementation on a large scale plus managing relationships with foreign (and local) governments, as well as militaries.

Trump lodged his usual complaints, expressing his hatred for former president Joe Biden and the media. He played up the tariffs he’s imposed and complained of not having won a Nobel Peace Prize. (Perhaps Hamas will give him one. Fine by me.)

He then mentioned a conversation with Hegseth. “I told Pete, we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military.”

Take a moment to absorb that statement. If you need one, take another.

American cities as training grounds for our military? Training grounds for what? The war inside America? Against “the enemy within”? Has Trump been watching TV series about post-apocalyptic times? They, Mr. President, are fictional tales written and produced to entertain. Fairy tales, if you will, for contemporary adults.

Newsflash #2: U.S. armed forces are not to be deployed within the United States except in dire circumstances. Granted, everything is dire and an emergency to Trump. Congressional Republicans tend to agree—in public if not in private.

What could our armed forces possibly train for? Want to control crime? Increase funding and training for police forces. Has the U.S. been invaded by a foreign army? Not that I know of. 

Does Trump want our military to take over states and cities, oust governors and mayors, impose martial law? That’s what we could be looking at.

Do I believe it will happen? Call me naïve, but no. I have great respect for our senior commanders. Most have lived by their accepted role of public nonpartisanship. (Voting is a private matter.) All are educated. Many hold graduate degrees. And all took the same oath I did when they were commissioned. They swore to protect and defend the Constitution, not a president.

I’ve written before about the commander of my Officer Candidate School battalion, a combat veteran of World War Two and Korea (later Vietnam). He told us candidates that we were not to obey illegal orders. “We,” he emphasized, referring to the war in Europe, “are not the Germans.”

I believe that America’s most senior military leaders will uphold the long tradition of nonpartisanship and respect for the Constitution. How many Trump may fire—or attempt to—remains a question.

Please pass on this post.

Order my novel, TAKING STOCK (Kirkus Reviews starred selection) — or 2084 —in softcover or e-book from Amazon, barnesandnoble.com or iuniverse.com. Or from your favorite bookstore.