Trump says he could send “Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines” into U.S. cities “if it was necessary”

Washington — President Trump told reporters Wednesday that he has the authority to send U.S. military forces beyond the National Guard into U.S. cities, claiming not even the courts could stop him, but said that hasn’t been necessary so far. 

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One during his trip to Asia, the president said he could send the “Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines,” and “anybody I wanted” into U.S. cities, and would do so “if I thought it was necessary.” Earlier in his trip, the president told U.S. troops at the Yokosuka naval base near Tokyo that he was prepared to send “more than the National Guard” into U.S. cities if needed.

Asked whether he meant sending other branches of the military into U.S. cities, Mr. Trump said Wednesday, “You know if I want to enact a certain act, I’m allowed to do it routinely,” an apparent reference to the Insurrection Act, which allows the military to act in a law enforcement capacity to suppress a rebellion or quell domestic violence. The authority that has not been invoked by a U.S. president in more than 30 years. 

“And I’d be allowed to do whatever I want,” Mr. Trump added. “But we haven’t chosen to do that because we’re very well — we’re doing very well without it. But I’d be allowed to do that, you understand that, and the courts wouldn’t get involved, nobody would get involved, and I could send the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, I can send anybody I wanted. But I haven’t done that because we’re doing so well without it.”

The president touted the National Guard deployments in Washington, D.C., and Memphis, Tennessee, as the administration insists their presence is driving down crime. The president has generally targeted Democratic-led cities for National Guard deployments. The cities of Chicago and D.C. and the states of Illinois, California and Oregon have sued the administration over the deployments.

The Posse Comitatus Act restricts the U.S. military from carrying out domestic law enforcement actions. But there are exceptions to the law. 

“He is talking about the Insurrection Act, which allows use of federal military forces in a law enforcement capacity,” said Geoffrey Corn, director of the Center for Military Law and Policy at Texas Tech University School of Law, in an email to CBS News. “This is very rarely used.”

The last time a president invoked the Insurrection Act was in 1992, when Gov. Gray Davis of California asked President George H.W. Bush for help to quell the riots in Los Angeles after a jury acquitted four police officers who were accused of assaulting and beating Black man Rodney King. The incident was caught on video.

“He would have to invoke this provision unless a governor requested the help,” Corn said of Mr. Trump. 

In D.C., Mr. Trump deployed the D.C. National Guard troops under a section of federal law known as Title 32, meaning they’re not subject to the Posse Comitatus Act. Members of the D.C. Guard also deployed in Title 32 status in 2020, in response to protests over the murder of George Floyd, when the D.C. government requested additional manpower. They also deployed in Title 32 status in response to the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol, after some delay.