Trump tested limits on using military at home; if elected again, he plans to go further

Associated Press Melbourne: During his first term as president, Donald Trump tested the limits of how he could use the military to achieve policy goals. If given a second term, the Republican and his allies are preparing to go much further, reimagining the military as an allpowerful tool to deploy on US soil. He has pledged to recall thousands of American troops from overseas and station them at the US border with Mexico. He has explored using troops for domestic policy priorities such as deportations and confronting civil unrest. He has talked of weeding out military officers who are ideologically opposed to him.

Trump's vision amounts to a potentially dramatic shift in the role of the military in US society, carrying grave implications for both the country's place in the world and the restraints that have traditionally been placed on domestic use of the military. As Trump's campaign heads into its final stretch against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, he is promising forceful action against immigrants who do not have permanent legal status. Speaking in Colorado on Friday, the Republican described the city of Aurora as a “war zone” controlled by Venezuelan gangs, even though authorities say that was a single block of the Denver suburb, and the area is safe again. “I will rescue Aurora and every town that has been invaded and conquered,” Trump said at the rally. “We will put these vicious and bloodthirsty criminals in jail or kick them out of our country.” The former president and his advisers are developing plans to shift the military's priorities and resources, even at a time when wars are raging in Europe and the Middle East. Trump's top priority in his platform, known as Agenda 47, is to implement hard-line measures at the US-Mexico border by “moving thousands of troops currently stationed overseas” to that border.

He is also pledging to “declare war” on cartels and deploy the Navy in a blockade that would board and inspect ships for fentanyl. Trump also has said he will use the National Guard and possibly the military as part of the operation to deport millions of immigrants who do not have permanent legal status. While Trump's campaign declined to discuss the details, including how many troops he would shift, his allies are not shy about casting the operation as a sweeping mission.