Rachel Maddow Says Trump Is A Strongman Using The Military In US Cities Against The American People

On her MSNBC show on September 15, 2025, Rachel Maddow claimed that President Trump “really does have the US military deploying in US cities against the American people” and suggested this is straight from the playbook of “strongman leaders.” That framing is not only exaggerated — it’s flat-out wrong. The truth is that Trump’s use of federal resources — whether through National Guard assistance, border enforcement, or DOJ-led task forces — is about protecting American communities by addressing violent crime, gang violence, illegal immigration, human trafficking, drug cartels, rioting, and threats to public safety. Strongman leaders around the world don’t use their militaries to support law enforcement, fight gangs, or secure borders — they use them to crush dissent, silence opponents, and hold onto power. There’s a huge difference.

Kamala Harris set the stage by claiming that Trump has an “enemies list” of people he intends to prosecute and that he plans to use the U.S. military against American citizens. Maddow immediately praised Harris, saying she “nailed it,” and even put an NPR headline on screen about the Justice Department “escalating its campaign against Trump’s perceived enemies” as supposed evidence. She then teased that she’ll be interviewing Harris next week — ensuring the same talking point gets repeated again and again. But look closely: Harris was making a political attack, NPR was reporting on DOJ investigations and staffing moves, and Maddow was talking about federal deployments. These are three separate issues, mashed together to make Trump look like a dictator. Instead of evidence, Maddow leaned on a campaign soundbite, a slanted headline, and her own spin to sell her “strongman” storyline.

In 2025, Trump has continued the same law-and-order strategy that defined his first term — only more aggressively. Federal task forces are targeting violent crime, illegal gun trafficking, and fentanyl networks. Border operations have been stepped up, with deportations and enforcement against cartels and smugglers expanded. The National Guard has been deployed in cooperation with governors in some states, and in Democrat-run cities that resisted, Trump has still exercised federal authority where legally allowed. That means: even if Democrat officials opposed him, he acted within the law — using powers presidents are granted — not as a dictator seizing extra authority.

These actions also include expanded efforts to protect children — cracking down on human traffickers, stopping cartels that smuggle fentanyl into schools and neighborhoods, and strengthening initiatives to prevent gangs from recruiting vulnerable youth. Federal law enforcement has also stepped up recovery missions for missing and exploited children, with U.S. Marshals and DHS task forces rescuing kids from trafficking and exploitation. Far from the actions of a strongman, this is a president using federal resources to safeguard the next generation.

Trump’s approach is also grounded in democracy, not dictatorship. Americans made their voices clear at the ballot box in 2024: they want illegal immigration stopped, criminals prosecuted, and their neighborhoods secured. That’s not “strongman” behavior — that’s a president executing the will of the people. In fact, refusing to enforce the law and letting chaos at the border and in the streets continue would be closer to ignoring democracy. When Trump deploys resources to protect Americans from crime, drugs, gangs, and illegal crossings, he is doing what voters asked for — something a true strongman never does.

Maddow’s claim also ignores the legal safeguards that exist in U.S. law. The Insurrection Act and the Posse Comitatus Act strictly limit how active-duty military can be used domestically. National Guard troops usually operate under state authority, and federal agents work under DOJ direction with oversight. That’s a far cry from the unchecked power grabs of dictators abroad.

What Maddow portrays as “deploying the military against the American people” is in reality a lawful, historically grounded, and voter-backed effort to restore order, secure the border, and protect American lives. In his current term, Trump’s actions have stayed within legal limits, frequently involving cooperation with state and local authorities, though sometimes over objections from Democrat-led cities. The results are undeniable: safer streets, dismantled gangs, fewer illegal guns, stronger borders, tougher action against drugs and trafficking, and expanded protections for children.

Far from the tactics of a strongman, this is exactly what the American people demanded in 2024: law, order, and security.

Democrats can’t tell the difference between undermining democracy and simply disagreeing with the majority.