‘Unfolding rapidly’: Expert warns Trump will 'stoke violence' to invoke Insurrection Act

Robert Reich, a former Secretary of Labor and a professor of public policy, is sounding the alarm — warning that President Donald Trump plans to invoke the Insurrection Act, and detailing the steps he may take to make it happen.

Reich, the author of 20 books, said on Thursday: “Trump wants to invoke the Insurrection Act, to punish anyone who opposes him.”

In his video, he played a clip of the President saying recently, “If you take a look at what’s been going on in Portland, it’s been going on for a long time and that’s insurrection. I mean, that’s pure insurrection.”

Military, legal, and political experts this week warned after Trump vowed to invoke the Insurrection Act if he deems it necessary — a move some see as the culmination of an authoritarian trajectory he has been telegraphing since taking office. No president has used the law in more than three decades, and then only in limited, localized crises.

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Reich went on to say, “I know all of this is frightening, and I don’t want to unduly alarm you, but you need to be aware of this imminent danger. It’s unfolding very, very rapidly.”

Explaining what he described as Trump’s four-point plan, Reich said step one “is to deploy ICE into so-called blue cities, run by Democrats. These masked and armed ICE agents are wreaking havoc on American cities and violating due process. They’re arresting people outside immigration courtrooms. They’re raiding homes in the middle of the night, and detaining children and adults, including American citizens. They admit to using racial profiling.”

Step two, he said, is “exaggerate the scale and severity of the protests.”

Step three: “Deploy National Guard troops.”

“Trump is deploying hundreds of National Guard troops from red states, like Texas, into blue states like Oregon, and Illinois, against the wishes of Democratic governors,” Reich said. “This is continuing to enrage an already outraged public — which is the whole point.”

“Trump wants to stoke actual violence, which would make it easier for him to unleash the final step in his plan, which is step four, invoke the Insurrection Act.”

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“The Insurrection Act empowers a president to federalize the National Guard and use the U.S. military to suppress civil disorder, insurrection, or armed rebellion against the government,” Reich explained. “Everything done by Trump has been a preamble to invoking this act, and being able to unleash troops against his perceived political enemies who oppose his regime in advance of the 2026 midterms. It would be the ultimate step in Trump’s authoritarian power grab.”

He said that “Trump and his enablers want violent confrontations in order to justify their moves. So, please, remain peaceful if you protest, or if you encounter ICE agents, or National Guard troops where you live. Do not give Trump what he wants.”

On Wednesday on Substack, Professor Reich wrote: “The direction we’re going is either martial law or civil war.”

Also on Wednesday, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy, one of the most outspoken members of the Democratic Party, took to the Senate floor to explain what he said is President Trump “enacting a well thought out plan so he and his allies can rule forever.”

“We aren’t on the verge of an authoritarian takeover,” the Connecticut Democrat declared. “We are in the middle of it.”

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