Marine ends 24-year career with warning that Trump has 'little connection to reality'

Citing the misuse of National Guard units and alarming comments about the “enemy from within,’’ a U.S. Marine Corps veteran walked away from his 24-year career rather than take orders from Donald Trump.

In a column published by the Washington Post, veteran Doug Krugman wrote that he had already decided to resign his commission before Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth held their much-maligned gathering of generals and admirals in Quantico, Virginia.

According to the veteran of two wars, the president's rhetoric about the threats the country faces does not match up with reality and he did not want to be put in the position of having to defy an order — particularly one where he would have to take up arms against fellow Americans.

Writing, “I continued to serve despite all that because I believed the Constitution brought the country more success than failure, and I believed our presidents took their oaths to it seriously,” he added, “With President Trump, I no longer believe that. During his first term, his actions became increasingly difficult for me to justify, culminating with the Jan. 6 attack on Congress as it tried to execute its duties.”

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Admitting he hoped Trump would have learned from the chaos of the insurrection attempt, he conceded he was wrong and added, “I could not swear without reservation to follow a commander in chief who seemed so willing to disregard the Constitution.”

Krugman cited Trump’s increased menacing of cities with claims about non-existent violence that have only escalated in recent days.

Singling out the battle between the president and the courts over the use of the military in the U.S., he added it is a threat to “military cohesion.”

More to the point, he wrote, “President Trump’s description of Portland as a ‘war zone’ is as fantastical as his belief that the June protests in a few blocks of Los Angeles would somehow ‘obliterate’ the massive city of nearly 4 million. In both cases, his words had little connection to reality. Every dubious basis he gives for an order creates more room for doubt, more room for reservations and more threats to our unity.”

As a parting shot, he suggested his fellow brothers in arms think hard about the position the increasingly belligerent and delusional Trump may be putting them in.

“I do not claim to speak for any other person or institution. I respect those who still serve, many of whom have service contracts and can’t simply retire like I did,” he confessed. “But if they have doubts about their orders, they are not alone. They should be confident in questioning possibly immoral or illegal orders, remembering they are responsible for their own actions, and knowing others are asking the same questions.”

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