Trump’s Plans for the Pentagon

The United States has chosen former President Donald Trump as commander in chief once more. Here’s what we know about Trump’s plans for the Pentagon during his second term in office.

Domestic deployment? Trump has repeatedly spoken about using the U.S. military on domestic soil for a host of law enforcement purposes, including securing the southern border with Mexico, policing civil unrest, cracking down on crime in cities such as Chicago, and even pursuing his political opponents. 

A long-standing law known as the Posse Comitatus Act bars federal troops from participating in almost all civilian law enforcement roles, but the 1807 Insurrection Act offers some exceptions if needed to quash a rebellion. 

An American Iron Dome. On the campaign trail, Trump spoke repeatedly about building an Iron Dome missile defense shield—which was also included in the Republican Party platform this year. 

But critics of Trump’s proposal have noted that building such a system to defend the entire United States would cost a fortune, and it would be of little use intercepting medium- and long-range missiles fired by Russia or North Korea.

Schedule F. Trump had vowed on the campaign trail to revive efforts to strip job protections from thousands of federal civil servants in policymaking roles, which will also expand to the Pentagon. Trump’s promise to pursue “rogue bureaucrats” has raised fears that the move could be used to politicize the federal workforce. 

Goodbye DEI. During a campaign event in October, Trump said he would create a task force to monitor “woke generals” and eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion training. He is also likely to reinstate a ban on transgender people serving in the armed forces and has promised to restore Confederate names to U.S. military bases.