The Crazy Things Trump Says, Part 2: When Trump Talks Like the Law Doesn't Apply

By The Reluctant Citizen October 27, 2026 15 min read

In Part 1, “The Crazy Things Trump Says, Part 1: Strongmen, Loyalty and the Press,” I looked at Donald Trump’s praise for dictators, his “day one” dictator line, his third-term talk and his war on the press. This part is about something more serious: the times he has urged, praised or floated actions that are illegal or unconstitutional.

Also in this series: The Crazy Things Trump Says, Part 1: Strongmen, Loyalty and the Press

My opinion, up front: A president’s words are not just talk. When he tells prosecutors whom to charge or says a leader who “saves his Country” can’t break the law, those words are instructions to the people who work for him. Some have been followed.

A note on fairness: where courts have ruled, I say what they decided, and I don’t claim crimes no court has found. Where something is only reported or denied, I say so.

1. Prosecuting his opponents: “JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!”#

The quotes: At the October 9, 2016 debate, Hillary Clinton said it was “awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country.” Trump: “Because you’d be in jail.”

Nine years later, on September 20, 2025, he posted to Truth Social, addressing then-Attorney General Pam Bondi: “What about Comey, Adam “Shifty” Schiff, Leticia??? They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done.” … “Lindsey Halligan is a really good lawyer, and likes you, a lot. We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility. They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!!”

What happened next: Within weeks, Halligan, newly installed as interim U.S. attorney, had indicted former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. On November 24, 2025, a federal judge dismissed both cases, without prejudice, because Halligan had been unlawfully appointed. The Justice Department appealed, and as of late October 2026 the Fourth Circuit hadn’t ruled. Trump fired Bondi in April 2026. Reuters reported that he had been frustrated with, among other things, the pace of cases against his critics.

Why it matters: Since Watergate, presidents have kept their distance from individual prosecutions, because a justice system that charges the president’s enemies on demand is a political weapon. This demand was public, and by name.

Sources

2. Georgia: “I just want to find 11,780 votes”#

The quote: “So look, all I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have because we won the state.” Later in the same call, he warned Georgia’s secretary of state and his lawyer: “That’s a criminal offense… That’s a big risk to you and to Ryan, your lawyer.”

When and where: A recorded phone call with Brad Raffensperger, January 2, 2021. Trump lost Georgia by 11,779 votes. He has called it a “perfect” call.

What happened next: The call was part of a Georgia racketeering indictment in 2023. After District Attorney Fani Willis was removed from the case, the prosecutor who took it over dropped it, and the judge dismissed it on November 26, 2025. There was never a trial. Special counsel Jack Smith’s federal case was dropped after the 2024 election under Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting president. His final report said the evidence would have been “sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction,” a conclusion Trump rejects.

Why it matters: No court ever ruled on whether the call was a crime. But you can hear it yourself: a president asking an election official for exactly enough votes to win, while mentioning “criminal” risk to that official.

Sources

Video/audio

3. Pressuring Pence: “If Mike Pence does the right thing, we win”#

The quotes: At the Ellipse on January 6, 2021: “Because if Mike Pence does the right thing, we win the election.” … “And Mike Pence, I hope you’re going to stand up for the good of our Constitution and for the good of our country. And if you’re not, I’m going to be very disappointed in you.”

At 2:24 p.m., with rioters inside the Capitol, he tweeted: “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!”

What the law and courts say: The vice president’s role in counting electoral votes is ceremonial. Pence said so himself in February 2022: “President Trump is wrong: I had no right to overturn the election.” In March 2022, federal Judge David Carter found it “more likely than not” that Trump “corruptly attempted to obstruct” Congress, calling the plan “a coup in search of a legal theory.” That was a civil ruling in a records dispute, not a criminal conviction. In 2024 the Supreme Court held that Trump’s talks with Pence were official conduct for which he is “at least presumptively immune from prosecution.”

Why it matters: He pressured his vice president to do something Pence and a federal judge said he had no power to do, then attacked him while a mob was in the building.

Sources

Video

Full Jan. 6 speech (C-SPAN)

4. “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.”#

The quote: “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.”

When and where: Truth Social and X, February 15, 2025, as courts were blocking parts of his agenda. The line is commonly attributed to Napoleon.

Why it matters: It’s a one-sentence argument that a leader’s own judgment sits above the law. Read it next to his 2022 post about “termination” of rules “even those found in the Constitution” (Part 1, point 7). In the American system, no one gets to decide alone that he is saving the country and so can’t break the law.

Sources

5. The military against “the enemy within”#

The quotes: On Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures,” October 13, 2024: “I think the bigger problem is the enemy from within” … “We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics. And I think they’re the big – and it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military, because they can’t let that happen.”

At Quantico, Virginia, speaking to hundreds of generals and admirals on September 30, 2025: “And I told Pete, “we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military national guard, but military.” … “We’re under invasion from within. No different than a foreign enemy, but more difficult in many ways because they don’t wear uniforms.” … “That’s a war too. It’s a war from within.”

What courts said: The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 generally bars using the military for domestic law enforcement. On September 2, 2025, Judge Charles Breyer ruled that the administration violated that law in Los Angeles. The government appealed. On December 23, 2025, the Supreme Court refused to let the administration deploy the National Guard in Illinois, finding it hadn’t shown it had the authority. Justices Alito, Thomas and Gorsuch dissented.

Why it matters: Soldiers swear an oath to the Constitution, not to a president, and policing fellow citizens isn’t their job. Calling Americans “no different than a foreign enemy,” and American cities “training grounds,” is how a military gets turned inward.

Sources

Video

6. “Just shoot them” and “you can fully expect to be shot”#

The account (reported, and denied): In his 2022 memoir “A Sacred Oath,” former Defense Secretary Mark Esper writes that during the June 2020 protests near the White House, Trump asked: “Can’t you just shoot them, just shoot them in the legs or something?” Trump responded: “This is a complete lie, and 10 witnesses can back it up.”

The quote (on the record): At the California Republican convention in Anaheim on September 29, 2023: “We will immediately stop all of the pillaging and theft. Very simply: If you rob a store, you can fully expect to be shot as you are leaving that store.” … “Shot!”

What the law says: In Tennessee v. Garner (1985), the Supreme Court held that police can’t use deadly force on a fleeing suspect unless the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious injury. Shoplifting is punished with fines or jail, not a bullet.

Why it matters: Whatever you believe about Esper’s account, the Anaheim line is on video: shoplifters should expect to be shot, which describes conduct the Supreme Court has ruled unconstitutional.

Sources

Video

7. “Punishable by DEATH!”#

The quotes: On September 22, 2023, about Gen. Mark Milley’s calls to his Chinese counterpart in the tense period around the 2020 election: “This is an act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH! A war between China and the United States could have been the result of this treasonous act.” Milley later said he took steps to protect his family.

On November 20, 2025, after six Democratic lawmakers, all military or intelligence veterans, released a video reminding troops they can refuse unlawful orders, he posted “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” and “Each one of these traitors to our Country should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL.” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said “no” when asked whether he wanted them executed.

What happened next: The Pentagon moved to punish one of them, Sen. Mark Kelly, a retired Navy captain. On February 12, 2026, Judge Richard Leon blocked it, finding the video was speech protected by the First Amendment. The government said it would appeal.

Why it matters: Telling troops to refuse illegal orders restates military law, and it isn’t sedition. A president who answers with “punishable by DEATH!” is threatening the people who reminded soldiers of their oath.

Sources

8. Judges who rule against him: “should be IMPEACHED!!!”#

The quote: On March 18, 2025, about Chief Judge James Boasberg, who had ordered deportation flights under the Alien Enemies Act turned around: “This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges’ I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!!”

The response: Chief Justice John Roberts, a conservative appointed by George W. Bush, issued a rare statement the same day: “For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision. The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.”

What happened next: In April 2025, Boasberg found probable cause that the administration had committed criminal contempt by willfully disregarding his order. An appeals court panel halted his inquiry. The full D.C. Circuit reheard the case on September 29, 2026, and as of late October hasn’t ruled.

Why it matters: Courts have no army. Their power depends on the other branches obeying them. Calling for judges to be removed over their rulings, while your administration is accused of ignoring a court order, chips away at that.

Sources

9. Suspending habeas corpus: “an option we’re actively looking at”#

The quote (Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff): “Well, the Constitution is clear – and that, of course, is the supreme law of the land – that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus can be suspended in a time of invasion. So it’s an option we’re actively looking at. Look, a lot of it depends on whether the courts do the right thing or not.”

When and where: Outside the White House, May 9, 2025. This was Trump’s top policy aide speaking, not Trump himself.

What the law says: Article I of the Constitution says the writ “shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.” It sits in the article about Congress, and most legal scholars say only Congress can suspend it. It has been suspended only four times, most famously during the Civil War.

Why it matters: Habeas corpus is the right to make the government explain to a judge why it is holding you. Saying it may be suspended depending on “whether the courts do the right thing” reads as a threat aimed at the courts.

Sources

Video

PBS NewsHour

10. Greenland and Panama: “One way or the other”#

The quotes: At Mar-a-Lago on January 7, 2025, asked whether he would rule out military or economic force to take Greenland or the Panama Canal: “I can’t assure you on either of those two” … “But I can say this, we need them for economic security.” To Congress on March 4, 2025, about Greenland: “One way or the other, we’re going to get it.” On January 9, 2026: “I would like to make a deal, you know, the easy way. But if we don’t do it the easy way, we’re going to do it the hard way.”

In fairness: At Davos on January 21, 2026, he said, “I don’t have to use force – I don’t want to use force. I won’t use force,” and backed off threatened tariffs on European allies.

What the law says: Article 2(4) of the U.N. Charter, which the U.S. helped write, bars the “threat or use of force against the territorial integrity” of any state. Denmark, which governs Greenland, is a NATO ally the U.S. is pledged to defend.

Why it matters: Taking territory by force is what Russia did in Ukraine. Even as leverage, threatening an ally’s territory undercuts a basic rule the U.S. built after 1945.

Sources

Video

11. Sending citizens away: “homegrowns are next”#

The quote: In the Oval Office with El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele on April 14, 2025, about sending people to Salvadoran prisons: “I said homegrowns are next, the homegrowns. You gotta build about five more places.” … “If it’s a homegrown criminal, I have no problem… Now we’re studying the laws right now, Pam [Bondi] is studying.”

The law and courts: There is no law allowing the government to deport a U.S. citizen, and the Supreme Court held in Afroyim v. Rusk (1967) that citizenship can’t be taken away without the person’s consent. His executive order ending birthright citizenship for many children born here was struck down by the Supreme Court in Trump v. Barbara on June 30, 2026, 6-3, in an opinion by Chief Justice Roberts.

Why it matters: Citizenship is the right to have rights. A president who talks about shipping citizens to a foreign prison, and tries to redefine who is born a citizen, is aiming at that foundation.

Sources

12. Pardons: “I have the absolute right to PARDON myself”#

The quote: On June 4, 2018, during the Russia investigation, he tweeted that he had “the absolute right to PARDON myself,” while adding that he had “done nothing wrong.”

What the law says: A 1974 Justice Department legal opinion concluded: “Under the fundamental rule that no one may be a judge in his own case, the President cannot pardon himself.” No court has ever ruled on it.

What he did: On January 20, 2025, his first day back, he pardoned some 1,500 people charged in the January 6 attack and commuted 14 more sentences. That included people convicted of assaulting police officers, and Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, convicted of seditious conspiracy. He had called them “hostages” and “patriots” during the campaign.

Why it matters: The pardon power is broad, and these pardons were legal. But claiming you can pardon yourself, and pardoning people who used violence on your behalf, signals that loyalty to you carries no legal risk.

Sources

The fascism question#

This section is analysis and opinion, mine and others’. “Fascist” is a heavy word, too often thrown around. But some who use it about Trump worked closely with him or study fascism for a living.

His own former generals. John Kelly, a retired Marine general and Trump’s longest-serving White House chief of staff, told the New York Times in October 2024 that Trump “certainly falls into the general definition of fascist, for sure,” and that “He commented more than once that, ‘You know, Hitler did some good things, too.’” The Atlantic reported that Trump said “I need the kind of generals that Hitler had.” Gen. Mark Milley, his former Joint Chiefs chairman, is quoted in Bob Woodward’s book “War” calling him “fascist to the core” and “the most dangerous person to this country.” These are their accounts. The Trump campaign said Kelly had “beclowned himself with these debunked stories he has fabricated.”

A historian of fascism. Robert Paxton, a leading scholar of fascism, resisted the label for years. After January 6, he wrote in Newsweek: “His open encouragement of civic violence to overturn an election crosses a red line. The label now seems not just acceptable but necessary.” Paxton also noted real differences, including that America today is nowhere near as desperate as Germany in 1932 or Italy in 1921.

The language. In Claremont, New Hampshire, on November 11, 2023, Veterans Day, Trump pledged to “root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country.” In Durham, New Hampshire, on December 16, 2023, he said of immigrants: “They’re poisoning the blood of our country.” Historians noted the echoes of Nazi propaganda, which called Jews vermin and wrote of races dying “from blood poisoning” in “Mein Kampf.” Trump denied any connection: “I never read his works,” he said, and “He didn’t say it the way I said it.”

The other side. Many serious historians think the comparison is a mistake. Samuel Moyn of Yale argues the label distracts from Trump’s American roots and the American history that produced him. There is no armed party militia, elections still happen, and courts have ruled against him many times.

My view: You don’t have to settle the label to see the warning. Fascism didn’t arrive in Europe all at once. It came with leaders who praised strength over law, called opponents vermin and internal enemies, attacked the press and courts, and told followers the rules no longer applied. Each of those appears in Trump’s own words, on the record.

Sources

Video

Closing: Words become policy#

This is my analysis and opinion.

Part 1 was about what Trump admires. Part 2 is about what happens when his words reach people with power to act. A post naming his enemies was followed by indictments. Talk of an “enemy within” was followed by troops on American streets. Attacks on judges came alongside a finding of probable cause that his administration defied a court.

The good news is in these same pages. Judges appointed by both parties said no. Pence said no. Raffensperger said no. The Supreme Court said no on birthright citizenship and the Illinois Guard. The system has held so far because people inside it chose to hold it.

When a leader says he can do what the law doesn’t allow, believe him enough to pay attention, and back the people and institutions that tell him no.

Also in this series: The Crazy Things Trump Says, Part 1: Strongmen, Loyalty and the Press

Filed under Politics Democracy Rule of Law Trump Constitution