Retired four-star U.S. Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey slammed President Donald Trump on Wednesday for suggesting the use of what he called “dangerous” American cities as “training grounds” for the military.
McCaffrey — in an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” — stressed that the hundreds of thousands of troops with the National Guard are a “national treasure,” describing them as “our friends and neighbors” who are well-equipped to respond to disasters.
“They’re disciplined, they’re responsive, but we do not want American military personnel on the streets of our cities, arresting civilians, collecting evidence or trying to do community policing,” McCaffrey said.
“It’s ineffective, it’s against American values, it’s an outrage and we need to stand up and say that categorically.”
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Trump — who has previously called on using the U.S. military against the “enemy from within,” echoing language used by Adolf Hitler — regurgitated the phrase during a rambling speech in front of military brass on Tuesday.
“This is going to be a big thing for the people in this room, because it’s the enemy from within,“ Trump said. “And we have to handle it before it gets out of control.”
The president’s comments arrive after he deployed National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles in recent months.
Last week, he announced his plan to deploy federal troops to “war ravaged” Portland, Oregon, the site of protests against his immigration crackdown.
McCaffrey, earlier in his “Morning Joe” appearance, described Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s presentation to the nation’s top military leaders as one of the “most bizarre, unsettling events” he’s ever encountered.
“The president sounded incoherent, exhausted, rabidly partisan, at times stupid, meandering, couldn’t hold a thought together,” said McCaffrey said.
He stressed that it was a “highly inappropriate use” of the armed forces and a “very strange day in American life.”