For a long time, it was considered something of a taboo for the U.S. military to be used for domestic purposes. The Posse Comitatus Act is a law from the 19th century that limits the use of the military for domestic law enforcement.
Trump, per a recent AP report, “has tested the law’s limits in the first few months of his second term, as he expands the footprint of the U.S. military on domestic soil.” Trump has sent troops to the nation’s capital to deal with crime, and has promised to do the same in other cities, including Chicago and Portland.
And judging by his comments today, it appears Trump is planning more of that.
Speaking Tuesday at Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s summit of U.S. military commanders who had been summoned from around the world, the president talked about, “you know, our inner cities, which we’ll be talking about because it’s a big part of war now, a big part of war.” The statement came during a long tangent about firefighters, who Trump claims are being fired upon while climbing ladders.
🚨MAJOR BREAKING: Donald Trump DECLARES WAR on American cities: “You know, our inner cities, which we’ll be talking about because it’s a big part of war now, a big part of war.”
Don’t tell me to stop calling Trump a fascist, WHEN HE IS A FASCIST.
— CALL TO ACTIVISM (@CalltoActivism) September 30, 2025
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Trump has made the claim in previous speeches, about criminals shooting at firemen while on ladders, and Snopes has analyzed the truth of it.
“It is true that there are multiple examples of reputable news outlets reporting on firefighters having been shot at while responding to an emergency call,” Snopes said earlier this year. “However, we could find no evidence that attackers were ‘shooting them off ladders.'” There have been a few incidents over the years of firemen being shot, but not all were recent, or even in the United States.
There were some outraged reactions to Trump declaring that “inner cities” are “a big part of war now.”
He’s turning the military on Americans. Wake up @HouseGOP. Is this the world you want your kids and grandkids to inherit? I’m old and give a fuck only because there is a generation cued up that will never know the freedom we are about to lose.
FUCKING DECLARING WAR ON OUR CITIES? https://t.co/IKaysEsNso— PammyCan’tSleepAtNightAGAIN (@PSchmaling) September 30, 2025
“Our inner cities…a big part of war now.” Trump is normalizing the idea of waging war on Americans. This is the language of dictators.
Bottomline: Trump is willing to physically hurt us in his quest for power. https://t.co/Ah9y7kSnvk
— Bucky (@BuckyNoseBest) September 30, 2025
You don’t casually contemplate declaring war on your own cities without accepting the fact that you’re a fascist. https://t.co/gd9S6rCo1d
— Damien Arnold (@Veritas7891) September 30, 2025
Photo courtesy of an X screenshot.
