He wrote that under current law, 'the president lacks any authority to declare martial law.' However, Joseph Nunn, a fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice, in October, wrote that the legal precedents for a president imposing martial law are vague, with no clear Constitutional principles or Supreme Court rulings governing its use. The president has broad powers to suspend normal legal constraints on his authority in response to a 'national emergency,' such as a natural disaster or terror attack, including deploying troops within the US to subdue unrest and assist law enforcement officers. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the reports. This content is not available due to your privacy preferences. Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal attorney, touted the idea of ordering the Department of Homeland Security to seize voting machines.Īxios confirmed key details of the meeting, reporting that Trump had expressed interest in Flynn's plan, and that White House officials are concerned Trump is 'spending too much time with people they consider crackpots or conspiracy theorists and flirting with blatant abuses of power.' Read more: How hackers breached IT company SolarWinds and staged an unprecedented attack that left US government agencies vulnerable for 9 monthsĪccording to the report, it wasn't the only last-ditch plan to subvert the election discussed in the meeting, with Trump also proposing appointing conspiracy theorist Sidney Powell as a special counsel to probe election fraud claims. In the meeting, according to the Times, Trump asked about the idea. In a raucous meeting Friday with top aides about his ongoing attempts to overturn the election, Trump was joined by General Michael Flynn, his former national security advisor, reported The New York Times.Ī few days earlier on the conservative Newsmax network, Flynn had called for the president to impose martial law, and 'rerun an election' in swing states that he lost to President-elect Joe Biden in November. President Donald Trump, in a White House meeting, raised the possibility of imposing martial law in a bid to overturn the result of the presidential election, according to reports Saturday. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Trump dismissed the reports as 'fake news.' In a CNN interview, John Bolton, a former national security advisor to Trump, described the suggestion as 'appalling' and 'unprecedented.' The idea was first touted by Michael Flynn, Trump's former national security advisor, who was reportedly present in the meeting.

President Donald Trump, in a White House meeting Friday, weighed the idea of imposing martial law to overturn the election result, reported The New York Times and Axios. Former General Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump’s recently pardoned national security adviser, departs a protest of the outcome of the 2020 presidential election outside the Supreme Court on Decemin Washington, DC.

Donald trump martial law