“Madness”: A Retired Brig. General Slams Trump’s Military Power Grab
Brig Gen Greg Smith, USA (Ret)
Reveal News
June 18, 2025
Brig Gen Greg Smith, USA (Ret), spent 35 years in the Army National Guard. He’s responded to riots, protected political conventions, and led the military’s joint task force after the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. But the recent deployment of federal troops to Los Angeles is unlike anything he’s seen.
“This is madness,” Smith says of President Trump’s call-up of both the National Guard and the Marines in response to protests over immigration raids—done without the consent of California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Smith points to the “little to no communication between local police and those military groups,” warning of potential conflict on the ground. But he sees a deeper concern: “I’m watching the military becoming co-opted by politicians, and where that leads is some really troubling places,” he says. “If that happens, the roots of our democracy are in extreme danger.”
On More To The Story, Smith talks about the “madness” of sending federal troops into LA, the need to reform the Insurrection Act, and the growing risk of the military being used to enforce political agendas rather than defend the Constitution.
