Democratic Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin admitted Sunday she couldn’t identify any illegal order having been issued by President Donald Trump when pressed by “This Week” host Martha Raddatz.
Slotkin and five other Democrats who served in the military or intelligence agencies appeared in a video urging fellow servicemembers to disregard “illegal” orders issued by Trump. Raddatz questioned Slotkin about her reasons for posting the video, which Trump called “sedition at the highest level” in a Truth Social post Saturday.
“I think the reason we put that statement out is because the sheer number of frankly, young officers who are coming to us and saying, ‘I’m not sure what do I do. You know I’m in SOUTHCOM and I’m involved in the National Guard, I’m just not sure, what do I do?’” Slotkin claimed. “We’ve had report after report of legal officer — JAG officers — coming forward and saying, ‘Look, I push back on this. I’m not sure that this is legal.’”
“There is such things as illegal orders. That’s why it’s in the Uniform Code of Military Justice going back to Nuremberg, right? And it’s just that it’s a totally benign statement and if the president is concerned about it then he should stay deeply within the law, but I think it’s important to know it’s not hypothetical,” Slotkin continued.
United States military forces have conducted multiple strikes against vessels suspected of running drugs since Sept. 2, when forces sank a boat carrying 11 members of the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua (TdA), which Trump declared as a foreign terrorist organization when he took office Jan. 20, 2025.
“Let’s talk right now. Do you believe President Trump has issued any illegal orders?” Raddatz pressed.
“To my knowledge, I am not aware of things that are illegal, but certainly there are some legal gymnastics that are going on with these Caribbean strikes and everything related to Venezuela,” Slotkin responded.
The Senate defeated a resolution disapproving the strikes under the War Powers Act by a 51-49 vote Nov. 13.
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