The military is Trump's favorite prop

He hates our service but loves to act like he's a tough guy

Props, stunts, and cowardice

This entire week is nothing but an ongoing series of abuse of power by Donald Trump as Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces of the United States. There isn’t an angle on the service of our men and women that he hasn’t managed to denigrate, disrespect, or undermine and it will only get worse in coming days.

From his stunt at Fort Bragg, the unneeded deployment to Los Angeles, and his absolutely ridiculous Army parade it is one example after another of Trump’s disdain for the military as nothing but a prop.

Tuesday was a perfect example of his hate for our service and values.

As a veteran of the Army and a long family line of those who have served I was disgusted beyond measure as I saw Trump speak to soldiers at Fort Bragg. I had seen a text message that had gone out from leadership at Bragg from his visit asking for soldiers to volunteer to be a backdrop.

That last bullet was shocking to me. I served 22-years and my political views about a President were never asked or required to be part of something. It was simply not something we discussed. The military has been rigidly apolitical for 250 years and even more so in the All Volunteer Forces era. When I was a young officer it was discouraged to even vote for your own Commander-in-Chief.

Then while he spoke I saw U.S. Army soldiers booing the media, Democratic leaders of California, and the former Commander-in-Chief President Biden. It was truly disgusting.

Look at their faces. Children playing games instead of disciplined members of the armed forces.

On top of that we have since found out that someone allowed a MAGA shop to be set up right on the grounds of the field behind the gate where the Army soldiers had to stand and wait for Trump to arrive. After the media reported without pictures many in MAGA world tried to deny it. Luckily the XVIII Airborne Corps posted pictures on Facebook themselves to help us out.

Yep…there it is.

What kind of stuff were they selling? Oh, you know…the usual stuff like the famous Trump chains, and of course, the “White Privilege Card.”

This is also a violation of Army regulations banning political activity on military installations. Army officials say they are “investigating” it to find out who approved it. If recent history is any guide Pete Hegseth’s Pentagon is investigating to find out who posted the pictures and leaked it to the public.

For those of us who have served this was a disgusting display of politics for what is must be an apolitical military. In just six months that entire idea has been thrown out the window with Department of Defense officials regularly attacking people like me on social media and service members openly showing their political support for Trump’s MAGA movement.

Dangerous doesn’t even come close to how bad this is.

Los Angeles

Now we have the National Guard federalized against the wishes of the governor of the state and an entire battalion of combat infantry Marines being sent to a tense situation. As Governor Newsom mentioned during our interview yesterday, this is only making things worse as it attracts the worst kind of radicals and anarchists and only makes the streets more dangerous.

Once again this is a political stunt for the cameras and we are getting multiple reports that the military members are angry and frustrated that they are being used this way. Forced to leave their families at graduation and vacation season so Trump can pretend he is a tough guy.

But, worry not good people. What could go wrong? They are getting several hours of use of force and crowd control training.

Really.

They are sending Marines trained in combat maneuver and assault to stand in the streets of Los Angeles during protests over ICE raids.

But, Donald gets to say he is tough.

It’s his birthday

Of course, on Saturday is the 250th birthday of the United States Army and the 70th birthday of Donald Trump. It’s also the year of the birthdays of the Navy and Marine Corps with no plans for a big parade for them but let’s not bog down in the details.

The plans for Saturday are spectacular with the Golden Knights parachute team jumping in to deliver a flag to Donald on the Ellipse and over 6,000 soldiers, over a hundred vehicles and another hundred or so helicopters flying overhead.

Here is a rendering of what Trump had in mind when he got the idea.

Well…that’s the former Soviet Union but same same.

Our military is a prop for Trump. He doesn’t care if they live, die, or suffer. I interviewed a number of members of Congress over the years. One once told me that you don’t have to believe their words. Believe how they vote and spend money.

This President and his vaguely sober Secretary of Defense have shown us exactly what their priorities are. Good living conditions for our service members and their families? Nope.

Fake border mission? Yep.

Unneeded deployment to Los Angeles? Yep.

Stupid parade? Yep.

In the end this is a very dangerous and slippery slope of politicization of the armed forces that if not stopped now will be impossible to recover from for a generation. The generals are silent and they must find their courage.

For all of us.

You won’t like what comes next.