Can The Military Stand Up To Trump?

Admiral Alvin Holsey served as commander of U.S. Southern Command for less than a year. The job typically lasts three. In those final Pentagon meetings before his resignation, Holsey did something a four-star admiral rarely does: he said no.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth wanted Venezuela invaded. Holsey’s staff ran the analysis. The answer came back clear: this requires an Operation Instant Thunder-style air campaign—the 30-day bombardment that preceded the first Iraq War. You’d need half the Air Force to suppress Venezuela’s Russian-built air defenses protecting Caracas. Then ground forces for occupation. Then years of counterinsurgency in a country the size of Texas and California combined.

Holsey asked for written legal justification. The answer was silence.

He asked again. Still nothing.

So he resigned.

Retired Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery explained the boat strikes that killed 27 people in carefully chosen words: “extremely unusual operations that a reasonable person could disagree with the legality of.” In military speak, that means illegal.

The professional military drew its line. Admiral Holsey proved they can refuse. The harder question is what happens next.

WHEN THE MILITARY WON’T, ICE WILL

Here’s what happened after Holsey walked away: ICE’s weapons budget exploded. Between January and October, spending jumped from $9.7 million to $71.5 million—a 700 percent increase. The procurement records detail what they bought: chemical weapons, guided missile warheads, explosive components.

Immigration agencies don’t need anti-tank weapons. Deportation operations don’t require grenade launchers. But domestic military operations do.

Trump’s pattern reveals itself. When the professional military refuses illegal orders, build forces that won’t refuse. ICE answers to the president, not Congress. ICE operates without military legal oversight. ICE doesn’t face courts-martial for constitutional violations. And now ICE has an arsenal designed for war.

The National Guard completes the picture. Texas troops deployed to Illinois over Governor Pritzker’s objections. California Guard federalized against Governor Newsom’s protests. Red-state forces patrolling blue cities—Portland, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington.

An appeals court just authorized Guard deployment to Portland despite state resistance. The legal framework for military occupation of American cities is being constructed one judicial ruling at a time.

So can the military stand up to Trump? One admiral did. But Trump’s response shows he doesn’t need the military’s cooperation—he’s building his own forces.

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