What did Donald Trump do today?

He "joked" about committing treason by levying war against Americans.

This morning, Trump posted to his private microblogging website a computer-drawn image of himself threatening the city of Chicago with "WAR." It's not the first time Trump has tried to make political hay out of threats to American cities—exclusively, so far, ones governed by African-American, Democratic mayors in states with Democratic governors.

Levying war against the United States is the exact definition of treason under the United States Constitution. But for all his tough talk on social media, Trump seems to have been scared off simply by political resistance from Illinois and Chicago leaders. Even in the cities where he has deployed troops, he's done little more in the way of "law enforcement" than having them do yard work. 

It's far from clear that the professional American military or federalized National Guard troops would obey orders to take any real action within Chicago, which is not even remotely close to the state of "rebellion" that would be needed to give Trump any authority to act against Americans. But Chicagoans did notice the threat, and within hours, had taken to the streets by the thousands to register their displeasure.

 

 

There were also protests today in Washington D.C., where Trump has also deployed American military forces as a show of "strength."

 

 

In the image he posted, Trump casts himself as the deranged Lt. Col. Kilgore, a bloodthirsty and amoral villain in the movie, which is set in the Vietnam War. In reality, Trump, who bragged about his athletic prowess in his youth, dodged the Vietnam draft by having a tenant of his father's real estate empire write him a fake medical excuse for "bone spurs."
 

Why does this matter?

• Trump joking about waging war on Americans isn't a joke, but it is pathetic, even by his standards. 

• Americans are not the enemy the American military is meant to fight.