Traitors plot to take over America. We never thought this was even possible.

This is how close we are to Trump becoming a dictator. The only way to prevent it is to make the vote so overwhelming that even the most rabid, stupid, crazed, traitorous MAGAs cannot claim they lost because the “election was rigged.”

Trump allies discuss martial law ahead of midterms

Story by Amanda Castro 

Allies of President Donald Trump are openly discussing martial law and other extraordinary federal action if they conclude that next month’s midterm elections have been “rigged.”

The proposals come less than three weeks before Election Day and raise questions about what power a president actually has to intervene in elections. Under existing federal law, however, a president cannot simply declare martial law to postpone an election, seize ballots, or take control of state election systems.

Axios reported Friday that prominent MAGA election activists have advocated extraordinary measures while warning of election-security problems they believe could emerge in November. Axios noted that no evidence shows the elections will be rigged and that some proposed actions extend beyond Trump‘s legal authority.

But Trump already has proved he doesn’t care about “legal authority.” His goons recently sawed down 400 trees in a Washington park, after a federal judge specifically told him not to. And he now says he will cut even more, no matter what the judge says.

Peter Ticktin, an attorney for election activist Tina Peters and a childhood friend of Trump, said during a September 30 Rumble call for MAGA election activists that “there would have to be martial law in the event…[of] another rigged election.”

Get that? “Another” rigged election. He’s talking about the 2020 election that he lost by 8 million votes. In the MAGA mind, any election Trump loses is “rigged.” That is their definition of democracy.

Ticktin subsequently told Axios that authorities would probably need to commandeer ballots and election equipment to investigate what happened before proceeding further. He told the Daily Beast that his proposal applied only to what he described as a “nightmare scenario” in which foreign interests took control of election equipment and affected the result.

Will that be the claim — that “foreign interests? took control of election equipment? The most prominent “foreign interest” meddling in our elections in Vladimir Putin, Trump’s favorite dictator, who continually tries to help Trump win. Why? Because he knows Trump is a disaster for America.

Putin knows that having Trump as President is the easiest way to defeat America without having to fire a shot. In fact, he would like to use America’s own military to subdue us,

This is not a drill. Peters participated in the September 30 call and met with Trump this month, according to Axios. She was convicted in 2024 of crimes connected to a breach of election equipment before Colorado Governor Jared Polis commuted her sentence this year. Peters and Ticktin also visited Trump at the White House in late June.

Another participant, Gregory Stenstrom, advocated pausing the election over security concerns or, alternatively, using the National Emergencies Act to compel changes in how states administer elections. Peters has also promoted replacing voting machines with hand-marked paper ballots and, where possible, conducting manual recounts.

What Is Martial Law?
Martial law traditionally describes the extreme step of military authorities taking the place of civilian ones, potentially including soldiers performing policing functions and military tribunals handling matters ordinarily heard by civilian courts.

Could Trump Declare Martial Law? What the Constitution Says
The president’s power is far more limited than the phrase “martial law” suggests. The Constitution does not expressly grant the president authority to declare it, and no existing federal statute explicitly authorizes the president to do so.

The Supreme Court has also never conclusively ruled that the federal government has a general martial-law power or established that a president could exercise one without congressional authorization.

The Brennan Center says that a unilateral presidential declaration would run afoul of the framework the Supreme Court established in Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952). Congress has enacted extensive restrictions on domestic military activity, including the Posse Comitatus Act, which generally prohibits federal armed forces from participating in civilian law enforcement unless Congress authorizes it.

Because Congress has legislated extensively in this area, the report concludes that a president could not override those restrictions merely by invoking martial law.

Jasmine Mines, an attorney whose practice includes federal criminal defense and post-conviction constitutional litigation, told Newsweek that allegations of a rigged election would not provide a president with authority to impose martial law.

“Not in any meaningful legal sense, and certainly not because of allegations about an election,” Mines said. “No federal statute authorizes a president to declare martial law, so anyone claiming the power would have to find it in the Constitution itself.”

Pointing to the Supreme Court’s 1866 decision in Ex parte Milligan, Mines said the court held that martial rule “can never exist where the courts are open, and in the proper and unobstructed exercise of their jurisdiction.”

“On Election Day, the courts will be open,” Mines said. “A claim that an election was rigged is a claim to take to those courts, not a reason to replace them.”

Mines similarly said neither martial law, the Insurrection Act nor an emergency declaration would give the president those powers. She noted that the National Emergencies Act requires presidents to identify the specific statutory authorities they intend to invoke.

“There is no statute he could name that lets him postpone a federal election, stop a count, take custody of ballots, or order a nationwide hand recount,” Mines said.

Trump would not bother with the niceties of naming a statute. He merely would order the military to take over, and if the military obeyed his orders, who could stop him?

If a general refused, Trump simply would replace the general with one of Trump’s toadies, who are all around him. Look at your own friends and acquaintances. Wouldn’t at least one or two of them agree to be head of the U.S. military and agree to Trump being dictator?

For congressional elections, she added, the Constitution gives each chamber of Congress, not the president, the power to judge the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own members.

The Brennan Center’s Derek Tisler similarly told Axios that emergency powers are not a “blank check” that lets presidents disregard the Constitution or federal law.

Newsweek reached out to Tisler for additional comment.

Presidents do possess substantial authority to deploy troops domestically without imposing martial law. The Insurrection Act provides circumstances in which a president may use federal forces to suppress insurrection, enforce federal law, or protect constitutional rights when specific statutory conditions are met.

But the Brennan Center notes that the law does not expressly authorize the military to replace civilian government, making invocation of the Insurrection Act legally distinct from martial law.

Trump simply would claim that there is an insurrection and call out the military. The crazy MAGAs would go along with it until they themselves are dragged off to jail. That’s what happens in all military takeovers. People who thought they were safe suddenly learned otherwise.

For example:

Name	Position	Year	How They Left
Steve Bannon	Chief White House Strategist	2017	Fired
Reince Priebus	White House Chief of Staff	2017	Replaced
Anthony Scaramucci	White House Communications Director	2017	Fired
Rex Tillerson	Secretary of State	2018	Fired
H. R. McMaster	National Security Adviser	2018	Replaced
Jeff Sessions	Attorney General	2018	Forced to resign
John Kelly	White House Chief of Staff	2018	Pushed out
John Bolton	National Security Adviser	2019	Fired; departure disputed
Mark Esper	Secretary of Defense	2020	Fired
Chris Krebs	Cybersecurity Agency Director	2020	Fired
Michael Waltz	National Security Adviser	2025	Removed from position
Billy Long	IRS Commissioner	2025	Removed from position
Kristi Noem	Secretary of Homeland Security	2026	Reportedly fired or reassigned
Pam Bondi	Attorney General	2026	Reportedly ousted
Katie Zacharia	White House Press Secretary	2026	Reportedly fired
Kimberly Guilfoyle	Ambassador to Greece	2026	Reportedly asked to step down

Federal law also specifically restricts military involvement in elections. Mines cited 18 U.S.C. § 592, which makes it a crime for federal civil or military personnel to station troops at polling places, except when necessary to repel armed enemies of the United States.

She also cited 18 U.S.C. § 593, which prohibits members of the armed forces from imposing election rules different from those prescribed by law or interfering with election officials carrying out their duties.

“Each carries up to five years in prison,” Mines said.

She argued that those congressional restrictions matter under the Supreme Court framework established in Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, under which presidential power is weakest when the president acts contrary to Congress’ expressed will.

Why Martial Law Is Being Discussed by Trump Allies
The calls for extraordinary action reflect years of continued skepticism about U.S. election systems among some Trump supporters following his false claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 election.

There still are fools who believe Trump, despite all evidence that he is a compulsive liar. Why do they believe him? It’s a combination of things:

1. Hatred/fear of those who are not white, male, Christians born in America to white, male, Christian parents who also were born in America.

2. Those self-proclaimed patriots, who actively want to see America’s downfall and who, despite history, believe a fallen America will be good for them.

3. Those who, despite history, believe Republicans will make them richer, and that Democrats will make them poorer.

4. Ignorance.

The debate also comes as people who challenged the 2020 outcome hold positions or maintain influence around Trump’s administration.

Heather Honey, who disputed the 2020 election results in Pennsylvania and Arizona, now serves as the Department of Homeland Security’s deputy assistant secretary for election integrity.

White House adviser Peter Navarro has continued to promote his claims of widespread irregularities in the 2020 election.

If Trump succeeds, people like Heather Honey and Peter Navarro, will be tossed aside in favor of others whom Trump likes better that day. It Trump-world, loyalty is a one-way street.

The White House did not directly answer Newsweek‘s questions about whether Trump supports calls for martial law or would consider using martial law or other emergency authorities in connection with the midterms. challenged the legitimacy of the November election.

In the past, we always could be sure that our President, at the very least, would obey court orders.  Trump has proved that our trust was naive. A psychopath, who has no concern for anything or anyone but himself, will not be restrained by a judge’s order.

Trump must be made to believe that illegal orders will not be followed and that any attempt to overturn the election will result in jail time.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell