It’s a small irony — if, in fact, irony of any size has survived the Trump Restoration — that just as MAGA world was predictably raging that Donald Trump had been unfairly denied the Nobel Peace Prize, the actual winner of the prize was praising Trump for his support of her cause.
Go figure.
By the time you read this, I’m sure Trump will have graciously returned the praise of Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who has risked her life, and is now in hiding, in support of democratic reform in her country and the removal of dictator — and, not incidentally, Trump foe — Nicolas Maduro.
Or maybe not.
As I write this on Friday afternoon, we haven’t heard yet from Trump, who was heading to the Middle East to celebrate the Israeli-Hamas agreement. But we did hear from the White House.
In reaction to the news, Trump’s communications director, Steven Cheung, posted this on social media: “The Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace,” adding that “President Trump will continue making peace deals, ending wars and saving lives.”
But whatever Trump has actually achieved in foreign affairs — he claims to be the world’s one great peacemaker — he will also continue to have his Department of Justice bring specious charges against his enemies, the latest being an indictment of fraud against Letitia James. As you may remember, James is the New York attorney general who brought, and won, a fraud case against Trump. (Her indictment is not ironic, by the way. It’s just the latest from Trump’s never-ending vengeance tour.)
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Trump will also continue — if the courts allow, and maybe even if they don’t — to send National Guard troops and, occasionally, the military to quell dissent in blue states and cities where protesters dare to oppose the Trump regime.
In fact, as federal judges rule against Trump for sending Guard troops, he has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, which was written in case of, you know, actual rebellion. But Trump’s view of insurrection — which is perhaps a bit too broad for judicial review — covers anyone actively disagreeing with him.
As April Perry, a Chicago federal judge, ruled Thursday, there is “no credible evidence that there is a danger of rebellion in Illinois,” adding that a National Guard deployment “is likely to lead to civil unrest” in Chicago. She also said the deployment would “only add fuel to the fire that the defendants themselves have started.”
You can hardly expect to win the Peace Prize when you’re making war on your own people, while putting the First Amendment and U.S. democracy itself at risk. And the ugly conflict — born of Trump’s unseemly war against immigrants and other Spanish speakers — has now broken out in an unlikely place, where governors rule.
It isn’t exactly a civil war, but it’s not exactly civil conversation either.
When Republican Gov. Greg Abbott sent Texas National Guard troops, at Trump’s behest, to Illinois, Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker called it “an invasion” and said, “Governor Abbott should stay the hell out of Illinois.”
In reply, Abbott told Fox News that Pritzker is a “joke” and is in “violation of his oath of office” for interfering with federal officers, uh, improving safety in Chicago.
Trump, the peacemaker, raised the stakes by saying Pritzker “should be in jail” for failing to protect federal immigration officers, which compelled Pritzker to ask, “What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?”
It has gotten to the point that while most Republican governors have remained silent on the issue, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican who is chair of the National Governors Association, felt the need to speak out, telling the New York Times that pitting one governor against another is not “the right way to approach this.”
“We believe in the federal system,” he said. “That’s states’ rights. Oklahomans would lose their mind if Pritzker in Illinois sent troops down to Oklahoma during the Biden administration.”
A federal judge in Chicago has put a 14-day hold on the Texas National Guard. And a panel of federal judges in “war-ravaged” Portland, Oregon, was expected to rule on troops there at any moment. But we know how lower-court rulings against Trump fare when they reach the U.S. Supreme Court.
In any case, considering that Denver and/or Aurora could be next on Trump’s list of cities to invade, I needed to ask Gov. Jared Polis for his views on Abbott sending in the Guard.
One of the governor’s spokespeople got back to me, saying Polis “supported Gov. Pritzker and Governor Stitt in their opposition to sending Guard from other states.” He said Polis would never send the Guard to any state without talking to the governor first and that Polis would “expect the same from any other state.”
It’s not just an expectation. It’s Colorado law. And as Polis’ spokesperson pointed out — and I bet you’ll like this piece of irony — the Colorado law against other governors sending National Guard without permission is based, in large part, on a Texas law.
You could look it up. Or just read on.
Here’s the Colorado law: CRS 28-3-103. General provisions. (10) states “A MILITARY FORCE FROM ANOTHER STATE, TERRITORY, OR DISTRICT SHALL NOT ENTER THE STATE WITHOUT THE PERMISSION OF THE GOVERNOR; EXCEPT THAT THIS SUBSECTION (10) DOES NOT APPLY TO A MILITARY FORCE FROM ANOTHER STATE, TERRITORY, OR DISTRICT THAT IS ON FEDERAL ORDERS AND ACTING AS A PART OF THE ARMED FORCES…”
And the Texas law, which is not written in capital letters: Texas Code – Section 437.209, states, “A military force from another state, territory, or district, except a force that is on federal orders and acting as a part of the United States armed forces, may not enter this state without the permission of the governor. The governor may delegate the powers granted by this section to the adjutant general.”
I asked the two Democrats, Sen. Michael Bennet and AG Phil Weiser, running to replace Polis in 2026, when the governor is term-limited, whether they agreed with Polis. I would have asked the Republican primary candidates, but there are apparently 19 of them, and I have enough trouble making deadline.
You won’t be surprised by the answers.
Bennet said in a statement: “What is happening across the country is a grave abuse of Presidential power. We are seeing the courts continue to uphold the rule of law, and Democratic governors defending our democracy. This is not normal; it’s not legal, and we cannot pretend it is.”
Weiser was a little more direct: “Mobilizing one state’s national guard and sending it into another state — against the wishes of that state’s Governor — is flat out wrong, an affront to federalism, and I wouldn’t stand for it in Colorado. NGA Chair and Republican Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt rightly criticized that action and called it a violation of states’ rights. And he is right — all leaders must call out such illegal and dangerous actions.”
I like what Vermont Gov. Phil Scott had to say at a news conference the other day about Trump’s attempted National Guard deployments in Illinois and Oregon. Scott is a Republican, but Vermont is, of course, one of the most liberal states.
”From what I’m seeing, I just think it’s unnecessary,” Scott said. “It further divides and threatens people.”
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He added, “I don’t think our guard should be used against our own people. I don’t think the military should be used against our own people. In fact, it’s unconstitutional. Unless, of course, there’s an insurrection, much like we saw on January 6 a few years ago.”
There was an insurrection that day, maybe the most significant since the Civil War. And Trump, of course, refused to act for hours. And when he resumed the presidency, he made his views on insurrection pretty clear, by immediately pardoning all the J6 rioters.
And yet, Trump wants Pritzker sent to jail for simply calling him out? I think I know what the Nobel judges would say.
Mike Littwin has been a columnist for too many years to count. He has covered Dr. J, four presidential inaugurations, six national conventions and countless brain-numbing speeches in the New Hampshire and Iowa snow. Sign up for Mike’s newsletter.
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