One week ago Donald Trump spoke in Detroit, Michigan in front of the National Guard Association.
He recognizes that the National Guard is the backbone of the U.S. Armed Forces, but is too often dismissed as a critical branch. “We always can count on you. I’ve counted on you a lot. The National Guard is America’s first and last line of defense. And you do not get the credit you deserve; but actually you do because down deep everybody knows it,” Trump said.
As some of you regular readers may recall, my first stint in the U.S. military was in the 1990s, first as part of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves and then the U.S. Army. Following September 11, I rejoined, this time as a member of the Idaho Army National Guard, and in 2005 I was deployed for an eighteen month combat tour of Afghanistan. And in my experience I found the National Guard to be the best trained, most professional, and most committed to the mission. I’m glad President Trump respects that as well.
His speech touched on several important topics, including the mess we call Veteran Administration hospitals and why our veterans, including National Guardsmen, need better care when they come home. But he also addressed foreign policy, to me the most important issue and the fixed focus of Bring Our Troops Home. If our soldiers aren’t being sent to fight and be hurt in unconstitutional wars of choice, they’ll need less reliance on the VA system later on, isn’t that right?
You have to understand: there are not other groups doing what we do. There are no other national organizations who are prioritizing keeping the National Guard out of undeclared wars, and thus preventing these wars from starting in the first place.
That’s the goal of the Defend the Guard Act, which my team has gotten introduced in over thirty state legislatures. We’ve passed the New Hampshire House of Representatives, the Arizona Senate, and the Idaho Senate just this year. Those are real accomplishments that push forward our message and achieve the next step of ending these endless wars in the Middle East and elsewhere.
Donald Trump didn’t hold back from predicting that our country is teetering on a dire edge:
“I don’t think we’ve ever been closer to World War III than we are right now. It’s a terrible thing. Our country is being destroyed by a radical political class that sends our Guardsmen and women to defend the borders of distant foreign nations while they surrender our own borders to an invasion right here at home the likes of which we’ve never seen before. You missed birthdays and holidays deploying overseas in the Global War on Terror…”
Trump is correct, National Guardsmen have made up about 45% of the deployed strength of the U.S. military during the Global War on Terror. That’s the logic of the Defend the Guard Act: make Congress declare war or deprive the federal government the manpower to fight an illegal war.
So what is he going to do about Ukraine, where the Joe Biden administration has spent over $150 billion, depleted U.S. weapon stockpiles, and put the whole world at the risk of nuclear conflagration?
“Before I even arrive at the Oval Office, shortly after I win the presidency I will have the horrible war between Russia and Ukraine settled, I’ll get it settled very fast. I don’t want you guys going over there. I don’t want you going over there and I’m the only candidate in this race who can make this promise. I will prevent—this is for the spouses—I will prevent World War III.”
That’s a pledge every single presidential candidate should make. It’s a pledge of common sense that prioritizes both American security and Ukrainian lives. But Donald Trump took it once step further:
“When I’m back in the White House we will expel the warmongers, the profiteers and take over our government. And we will restore world peace and it will again be peace through strength.”
That’s a very big promise. And I hope he keeps to it.
Do you know the best way to hold Donald Trump accountable to his word, and actually keep every future U.S. president’s feet to the fire? Passing the Defend the Guard Act in all fifty states. That’s the insurance plan, how you’ll keep these politicians honest.
Someone who’s going to help Trump keep his promise and disengage us from Forever War is former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, who endorsed him on stage last week. Lt. Col. Gabbard is an Iraq War veteran who still serves in the Hawaii National Guard; there are few people at the national level who so clearly and authentically advocate for veterans.
She told the assembled crowd of Guardsmen, “This is one of the main reasons why I’m committed to doing all that I can to send President Trump back to the White House where he can once again serve us as our commander-in-chief. Because I am confident that his first task will be to do the work to walk us back from the brink of war. We cannot be prosperous unless we are at peace.”
I spoke with Tulsi when we shared a stage at the Rage Against the War Machine rally, and earlier this year she endorsed the Defend the Guard Act.
She’s now joined another former Democrat and current Defend the Guard supporter, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., in supporting Donald Trump in 2024. “We’re uniting forces to end the endless foreign wars,” Trump said.
I hope that’s true. I want that to be true.
And the only way we can guarantee that’ll become true is by passing Defend the Guard—a movement that Trump should enlist himself in, just like his new lieutenants.
Bring Our Troops Home is going to continue to be active and the importance of the National Guard is going to continue to be at the forefront of discussion this election season. I hope you do your part now, when it’ll count most, so we can do right by our soldiers, follow the Constitution, and finally put America first.
