A Canada-U.S. relations expert says it isn’t very likely President Donald Trump will be able to deploy the military against protesters and rioters.
Don Abelson, the Steven K. Hudson Chair in Canada-U.S. Relations and founding director of the Brian Mulroney Institute of Government at StFX University in Nova Scotia, says Trump would almost certainly face a constitutional challenge if he tried.
Abelson says the Insurrection Act, which Trump would use to issue the military order, usually requires a state’s governor to consent and is only intended to restore law and order if officials in that state are incapable- or unwilling- to enforce federal law.
Abelson says that’s not what Trump is doing here.
“What he’s trying to do is put an end to the riots (and) the protests because he doesn’t like the optics,” he says. “The act isn’t there for political purposes- he’s concerned about how this is going to affect his re-election chances in 2020.”
Abelson says state governors haven’t given their consent, and military leadership isn’t required to follow unlawful orders.
He says Trump trying to invoke the act would almost certainly lead to a constitutional challenge, which he would very likely lose.
