WASHINGTON, DC. — Senator Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) delivered remarks at the Brookings Institution’s Knight forum on Geopolitics. A member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and a former national security professional, Slotkin focused on President Trump’s use of the military, use of force, his authoritarian playbook and how this all impacts our democracy.
Slotkin warned that amidst domestic deployments of the National Guard in American cities and strikes against unnamed terrorist groups in the Caribbean, President Trump is using a clear authoritarian playbook that could potentially include lethal force on Americans domestically, using every lever of government to go after his perceived enemies and opponents and undermining our ability to hold competitive and fair elections.
Key Excerpts:
- …in 2025, homeland threats aren’t being defined by the Pentagon, or based on what the intelligence community deems our greatest threats — but by one man, Donald Trump, and Donald Trump alone. And he is showing the world just how willing he is to use force against his enemies.
- As someone who worked for both a Republican president and a Democratic president in the White House, I saw critical decisions made up close, and you need the power to act when it’s about life and death.
- But Trump has laid out a whole lot of enemies that are American citizens. And if he’s willing to use lethal force against enemies abroad, what’s stopping him from using lethal force against his enemies at home?
- That question should chill every American to the bone. And I’m giving this speech today because I believe that’s exactly his plan. I believe that Trump is ready to bring the full weight of the government against Americans he perceives as enemies. Why? Because he has one goal: making sure he and his ilk never have to give up power.
- Now to be clear, I don’t say this lightly. But I think, between the strikes in the Caribbean, his efforts to identify domestic terrorists, and his deployment of force in American cities, that seems to be where we’re headed.
Read the remarks as prepared here.
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