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Headline Roundup November 20th, 2025

6 Democrats Urge Military To Disobey Illegal Orders, Trump Calls for Their Arrest

Summary from the AllSides News Team

Six Democratic congress members posted a video on X urging military service members to ignore illegal or unconstitutional orders, causing President Donald Trump to call for their arrest.

The Details: The video includes Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-PA), Rep. Maggie Goodlander (D-NH), Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), and Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO), all of whom have previously served in some branch of service or intelligence. In the video, the congress members claim that the Trump administration is pitting military and intelligence officials against American citizens. They say that threats to the Constitution are coming "from right here at home," and they tell service members that they "must refuse illegal orders."

Trump's Response: Trump wrote on Truth Social, "This is really bad, and Dangerous to our Country. Their words cannot be allowed to stand. SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR FROM TRAITORS!!! LOCK THEM UP???" In a separate post, he wrote, "SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!"

How the Media Covered It: NewsNation (Center bias) wrote that the message "raised questions about what the minority party may be trying to accomplish." Though the video does not name a specific concern, NewsNation wrote that it comes as Trump has built up military forces in the Caribbean and conducted "controversial" strikes on alleged Venezuelan drug boats. CNN (Lean Left) included responses from some Republican lawmakers, including Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who said the Democrats in the video "have yet to show us an example" of unlawful orders the military may be asked to follow. New York Post (Lean Right) focused on Trump's response. It also noted that Slotkin and Crow recently introduced acts and resolutions that would limit National Guard deployments and prevent further strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean.

Written by the AllSides staff (of humans). Learn more. Support our mission. Suggest an improvement to this summary.

Featured Coverage of this Story

From the Left
Democratic lawmakers urge troops to disobey illegal orders
Democratic lawmakers urge troops to disobey illegal orders

Sandy Huffaker/Bloomberg/Getty Images/File

News

Half a dozen members of Congress who previously served in the military or intelligence community are urging service members and intelligence officials to disobey illegal orders that might be issued by President Donald Trump’s administration.

In a video posted on X Tuesday, Democratic lawmakers Sen. Elissa Slotkin, Sen. Mark Kelly, Rep. Jason Crow, Rep. Maggie Goodlander, Rep. Chris Deluzio and Rep. Chrissy Houlahan said the “threats to our Constitution” are coming “from right here at home,” and repeatedly urged the military and intelligence community to “refuse illegal orders.”

“No one...

Open on CNN Digital
From the Right
Trump demands arrest of Dem ‘traitors’ who urged military to refuse ‘illegal orders’
Trump demands arrest of Dem ‘traitors’ who urged military to refuse ‘illegal orders’

Reuters

News

President Trump lashed out Thursday at six Democratic lawmakers who released a video on social media this week urging service members to defy “illegal orders” by the administration.

“It’s called SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Thursday morning.

“Each one of these traitors to our Country should be ARRESTED AND PUT ON TRIAL. Their words cannot be allowed to stand – We won’t have a Country anymore!!! An example MUST BE SET.”

Open on New York Post (News)
From the Center
Dems’ warning to military stirs debate on duty, ‘illegal orders’
News

A group of Congressional Democrats this week urged U.S. service members and intelligence professionals to defy “illegal” orders — a message that has raised questions about what the minority party may be trying to accomplish.

Tuesday’s online message came from six Democratic representatives and senators who served in a military branch or in U.S. intelligence. They said the Trump administration is trying to pit these two sectors against American citizens. Rep. Chris Deluzio of Pennsylvania, a Navy veteran, says, “You must refuse illegal orders,” with Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan,...

Open on NewsNation

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