
U.S. Military Opposition to the Trump Administration A Matter of Concern
As a 31-year veteran of the U.S. Navy, former submarine captain, and long-time follower of all things military, I became concerned recently when I read the following X post from one of my favorite personalities on X:
There is an enormous problem in our nation’s military, one that I have not seen discussed in depth elsewhere.
I have heard from multiple sources that many active duty officers openly and deeply despise the Trump Administration, and they are not at all shy about expressing their…
— Cynical Publius (@CynicalPublius) March 26, 2025
I highlight the key parts of Cynical Publius’s (CP’s) post here so you don’t have to read the whole thing (even though you should):
There is an enormous problem in our nation’s military, one that I have not seen discussed in depth elsewhere. I have heard from multiple sources that many active duty officers openly and deeply despise the Trump Administration, and they are not at all shy about expressing their opinion both in and out of uniform. One active duty major I know estimates that it’s 1 in 4 who have this problem…
This is an astonishingly bad problem. Putting aside for the moment that this is a clear violation of Article 88 of the UCMJ, this is how military coups take place. I guess I should not be surprised given Mark Milley’s traitorous actions towards his Commander-in-Chief, but the fact that this has permeated to lower levels of the officer corps surprises me and causes me great worry. [emphasis added].
Same here.
Article 88 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice is entitled “Contempt Towards Officials” and states the following:
Any commissioned officer who uses contemptuous words against the President, the Vice President, Congress, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of a military department, the Secretary of Homeland Security, or the Governor or legislature of any State, Commonwealth, or possession in which he is on duty or present shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.
CP continues:
For reference, in my 22 years of commissioned service (starting in the late ‘80s), it was virtually impossible to know the political leanings of ANY officer unless they were an extremely close friend. Many officers purposely had no political preferences of any kind. In fact, I knew many officers who refused to even vote because it suggested that they were somehow partisan. This was an ethos that said “We serve under the Constitutional will of the American People; whomever the People select as the Commander-in-Chief is someone to whom I have a duty of absolute loyalty.”
I had the exact same experience in my 31 years of service (27 years commissioned service and four years at the U.S. Naval Academy).
CP again:
This was a sacred bond, and still is supposed to be.
Apparently it no longer is.
This phenomenon suggests a complete breakdown in good order and discipline across our entire military, and throughout world history has been a precursor to rule by military junta. I am not exaggerating this threat. We cannot allow our military’s officer corps to continue down this path unchecked.
There needs to be a complete reversal of this trend before it’s too late. Pete Hegseth and his team need to get on top of this. But here’s the hard part—it’s not enough to just get these officers to shut their mouths. They need to also re-train their brains and their hearts to deeply understand and accept that they have a duty of loyalty both to the Constitution and the lawful orders of the chain of command the People elect under that Constitution, and that their current thoughts and actions are wholly incompatible with that duty.
I served under Bill Clinton. I know it’s possible because I’ve done it. If these officers cannot do this, they need to be separated from service. It’s better to have vacant officer positions than have them filled with people who are disloyal to their Constitutional duties.
Military officers have a solemn duty to the nation. Too many are ignoring this duty. This must change before it is too late.
Scary stuff, and CP isn’t the only former military person with his ear to the ground that is hearing these types of things:
A field grade Army JAG officer discusses how the JAG Corps Pride Affinity Network is active in opposition to President Trump’s Executive Orders regarding the new gender policy in the DOD.
The purpose of affinity groups as stated by them is “to create a sense of community by… pic.twitter.com/V4SaAX9E5Z
— Shoe (@samosaur) March 1, 2025
Shoe, or Sam Shoemate, is a retired Army intelligence analyst who regularly documents military officers’ efforts to sabotage the Trump Administration’s attempts to set the U.S. military on the right path:
“Active duty MAJ (at Joint Modernization Command) disparaging the CiC. Told many times to knock it off and just laughs.”
It’s a bold strategy, Cotton. Let’s see if it pays off for ’em. pic.twitter.com/JDvLqGBFqk
— Shoe (@samosaur) March 13, 2025
You can review Shoe’s X timeline to get an idea of how bad it is, or you can simply attend an upcoming online event hosted by STARRS (Stand Together Against Racism and Radicalism in the Services) this Wednesday:
Looking forward to having Sam Shoemate @samosaur as the guest speaker at our next Town Hall on April 9 via Zoom. Register here: https://t.co/ZBXyFz8yYG
— STARRS (@STARRSmission) April 4, 2025
Sign up for the Town Hall here, which starts at noon Eastern this coming Wednesday.
If you can’t make it, don’t worry, I’ll be on it and will give you a data dump after it’s complete.
Here’s hoping SECDEF Hegseth and his people can turn this around ASAP.