Trump wants to narrow his deficit with women but he's not changing how he talks about them
Donald Trump's campaign has used sexist and crude language, expressing alarm at the idea of women voting differently than their partners.
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 all-powerful tool to deploy on U.S. soil.
He has pledged to recall thousands of American troops from overseas and station them at the U.S. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. 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."
In an interview aired Sunday on Fox News Channel, Trump was asked about the potential of "outside agitators" disrupting Election Day and he then pivoted to what he called "the enemy from within."
"I think the bigger problem is the enemy from within," Trump said. He added: "We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics. And I think they're the big -- and it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military, because they can't let that happen."
Trump has repeatedly invoked the phrase "enemy from within" in recent speeches. On Saturday, he used it to refer to Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., a prominent Trump critic who oversaw the congressional investigation that led to Trump's first impeachment. Schiff is now running for the Senate.
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 hardline measures at the U.S.-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 of those plans, including how many troops he would shift from overseas assignments to the border, his allies are not shy about casting the operation as a sweeping mission that would use the most powerful tools of the federal government in new and dramatic ways.
"There could be an alliance of the Justice Department, Homeland Security and the Department of Defense. Those three departments have to be coordinated in a way that maybe has never been done before," said Ron Vitiello, who worked as the acting director of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement under Trump.
Republican presidential candidate former U.S. president Donald Trump greets members of the National Guard on the U.S.-Mexico border, Feb. 29, 2024, in Eagle Pass, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
While both Democratic and Republican presidential administrations have long used military resources at the border, the plans would be a striking escalation of the military's involvement in domestic policy.
Advocates for human rights and civil liberties have grown alarmed.
"They are promising to use the military to do mass raids of American families at a scale that harkens back to some of the worst things our country has done," said Todd Schulte, president of FWD.us, an immigration advocacy organization.
In Congress, which has the power to restrict the use of military force through funding and other authorizations, Republicans are largely on board with Trump's plans.
"The reason I support Donald Trump is he will secure the border on Day 1. Now that could be misinterpreted as being a dictator. No, he's got to secure the border," said Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., a member of the House Armed Services Committee.
Many Republicans argue that Trump's rhetoric on immigration reflects reality and points to the need for military action.
"There is a case that this is an invasion," said North Carolina Sen. Ted Budd, a Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee. "You look at 10 million people, many of which are not here for a better future, and, unfortunately, it's made it necessary. This is a problem that the Biden administration and Harris administration have created."
Still, Trump's plans to move military assets from abroad could further inflame tension within the GOP between those hawkish on foreign policy and Republicans who promote Trump's brand of "America First" isolationism.
Republican Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, insisted Trump would not move active-duty troops to the border, even though Trump's platform clearly states he would.
In the Senate, where more traditional Republicans still hold sway, Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, issued a statement encouraging the Department of Defense to assist with border security, but adding that the effort "needs to be led by the Department of Homeland Security."
Trump's designs for the military may not stop at the border.
As Trump completes a campaign marked by serious threats to his life, his aides already made an unusual request for military aircraft to transport him amid growing concerns over threats from Iran.
During his first term while riots and protests against police brutality roiled the nation, Trump also pushed to deploy military personnel. Top military officers, such as then- Gen. Mark Milley, resisted those plans, including issuing a memo that stressed that every member of the military "swears an oath to support and defend the Constitution and the values embedded within it."
Trump's potential actions would likely require him to invoke wartime or emergency powers, such as carrying out mass deportations under the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 law, or quelling unrest under the Insurrection Act, an 1807 law that allows a president to deploy the military domestically and against U.S. citizens. It was last used by President George H.W. Bush in 1992 during rioting in Los Angeles after police officers beat the Black motorist Rodney King.
Ahead of a potential second term for Trump, Democrats in Congress tried to update presidential powers like the Insurrection Act but found little success.
That's left them instead issuing dire warnings that Trump now has fewer guardrails on how he could use the military. He has shown an ability to bend institutions to his goals, from a Supreme Court willing to reconsider long-standing interpretations of presidential powers to a military scrubbed of officers and leaders likely to push back on his plans.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who introduced legislation to update the Insurrection Act, said the plans "illuminate Donald Trump's total misunderstanding of the United States military as a force for national defence, not for his personal preferences to demagogue an issue."
But Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, underscored how many in his party have grown comfortable with deploying the military to confront illegal immigration and drug trafficking.
"Whatever fixes the border, I think we're OK with," he said.
Donald Trump's campaign has used sexist and crude language, expressing alarm at the idea of women voting differently than their partners.
Housing experts argue widespread adoption of government-supported affordable housing, the growth of alternative models like co-operatives and co-housing, and the increased use of advanced building techniques could all play a role in improving Canada's housing system.
For people living on the fringe of society, the line between the safety and security of a home and homelessness is very thin.
Canada Post says talks are continuing with the union that represents postal workers and neither side has given notice of a work stoppage.
Federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon says federal mediators are standing by and ready to help hammer out a deal in order to avoid a labour disruption at ports across British Columbia.
British prosecutors say they have been given a file of evidence from police about alleged sexual offenses by comedian Russell Brand and are considering whether to charge him.
With the rising cost of living, you may have thought about ways to make extra money and adding a rental unit to your home may have been one of them.
'Venom: The Last Dance' enjoyed another weekend at the top of the box office. The Sony release starring Tom Hardy added US$26.1 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Spain's King Felipe VI and top government officials were pelted with mud by a crowd of enraged flood survivors during the first visit by the country's leaders Sunday to the centre of the suffering.
A Vancouver man is saying goodbye to his nine-to-five and embarking on a road trip from the Canadian Arctic to Antarctica.
A Windsor teen’s social media post showing off a distinctive Windsor pizza topping has gone viral, drawing millions of views worldwide and sparking new curiosity about Windsor-style pizza.
Auston Matthews has come face to face with his look-alike. On Thursday, the Maple Leafs star met seven-year-old Grayson Joseph, who went viral for dressing up as an Auston Matthews hockey card.
A Halifax junk remover shares some of his company’s strangest discoveries.
When Leah arrived at work directing traffic around a construction site, she never expected to see a van painted in all sorts of bright colours, and covered in eclectic decorations, including a stuffed moose attached to its roof.
After 14 years of repairing and selling bicycles out of the garage of her home, a Guelph, Ont. woman’s efforts have ended – for now, at least.
Epcor says it has removed more than 20,000 goldfish from an Edmonton stormwater pond.
Witches and warlocks have been flocking to New Brunswick waterways this month, as a new Halloween tradition ripples across the province.
New Brunswicker Jillea Godin’s elaborate cosplay pieces attract thousands to her online accounts, as well as requests from celebrities for their own pieces.