Could Trump order the military to kill Americans? It might be closer than you think

The United States is now executing people on the high seas whom Trump calls “enemy combatants.” He’s doing so without a declaration of war, without input from Congress, and without any findings that they pose a threat to the United States.

At this moment, Secretary of Defense (or Secretary of War, as Trump prefers) Pete Hegseth is positioning warships, including an aircraft carrier, and planes, in waters off Latin America.

Hegseth has already bombed 10 boats, eight of them in the Caribbean and two others this week in the eastern Pacific.

So far, the death toll is 43.

Neither Trump nor Hegseth has offered any evidence to support their claims that the vessels have been smuggling drugs to the United States or were “operated by” Tren de Aragua, a group that Trump has designated as a terrorist organization.

It is illegal, under domestic and international law, to deliberately target civilians who are not directly participating in hostilities — even if they are suspected criminals.

Before Trump, the United States dealt with suspected maritime drug smuggling by using the Coast Guard, sometimes assisted by the Navy. If the suspicions proved accurate, the boat’s crews were arrested. They might then stand trial. The penalty for being convicted of drug trafficking was time in prison.

Now, Trump is summarily executing people suspected of being drug dealers, without any proof.

Trump claims that the attacks are are not murder because he has “determined” that the boats are smuggling drugs, that they are being run by drug cartels, that drug trafficking by cartels constitutes an armed attack on the United States, and that the United States is now engaged in a formal armed conflict with the cartels.

As a result, he reasons, the boat crews are “enemy combatants” and can be executed.

Every step in this so-called logic is questionable.

It’s also dangerous. What if Trump “determines” that anyone he dislikes — immigrants, Democrats, student protesters — is an “enemy combatant?”

He has already referred to the “enemy within” the United States — in characterizing domestic political opponents, including government officials, critics, activists, and protesters.

In his Sept. 30 speech to U.S. military’s top brass, Trump discussed using the military against this so-called “enemy from within.”

Trump has sent troops into Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and Chicago — over the objections of mayors and governors. He plans to send more troops into more cities. He claims he’s doing it to deal with crime or to protect ICE agents or to protect ICE facilities. Again, the evidence is flimsy or non-existent.

ICE now holds 59,762 people in detention. Some of those detained have been American citizens. ICE made a mass arrest of 15 New York State elected officials. It has arrested members of Congress, active-duty firefighters, a child it accused of being a convicted adult in the MS-13 gang, a disabled military veteran, and a United States marshal — all of whom were shown to be U.S. citizens wrongfully held by ICE.

Trump’s Justice Department is now prosecuting people whom Trump has ordered it to prosecute — people who have tried to hold him legally accountable, such as New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI director James Comey.

Put it all together. How close are we to Trump ordering the execution of Americans he considers opponents?

• Robert Reich is a professor of public policy at Berkeley and former secretary of labor. His writings can be found at https://robertreich.substack.com/.
• Robert Reich's new memoir,Coming Up Short, can be found wherever you buy books. You can also support local bookstores nationally by ordering the book at bookshop.org.