President Donald Trump on Saturday escalated his attack on a group of Democratic lawmakers. He proposed that they should be incarcerated immediately. Their alleged crime was telling military members to disobey potential orders.
Trump’s comments follow a video released Tuesday. In the clip, the lawmakers, including Senator Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), were seen urging troops to ignore orders. The video featured the phrase, “Don’t give up the ship,” as reported by Fox News.
Writing on his Truth Social platform, Trump called their actions a high-level offense. He stated, “THE TRAITORS THAT TOLD THE MILITARY TO DISOBEY MY ORDERS SHOULD BE IN JAIL RIGHT NOW, NOT ROAMING THE FAKE NEWS NETWORKS TRYING TO EXPLAIN THAT WHAT THEY SAID WAS OK. IT WASN’T, AND NEVER WILL BE! IT WAS SEDITION AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL, AND SEDITION IS A MAJOR CRIME. THERE CAN BE NO OTHER INTERPRETATION OF WHAT THEY SAID!”
In a follow-up post, the President doubled down on the seriousness of the situation. He wrote, “MANY GREAT LEGAL SCHOLARS AGREE THAT THE DEMOCRAT TRAITORS THAT TOLD THE MILITARY TO DISOBEY MY ORDERS, AS PRESIDENT, HAVE COMMITTED A CRIME OF SERIOUS PROPORTION!”
Senior Advisor Calls Video ‘Insurrection’
Following the video’s release, a senior advisor to Trump, Stephen Miller, weighed in during an interview. He characterized the clip as an act of insurrection. Miller asserted, “It’s a general call for rebellion from the CIA and the armed services of the United States, by Democrat lawmakers.”
Miller then broadened his critique of the Democratic Party’s behavior. He claimed, “We have seen the Democratic Party nurse the flames of violence and insurrection against the federal government for the last ten months.” He cited continuous violence against federal agents and support for rioters by sanctuary politicians. He suggested this even influences judicial processes. “When you see Democrat jurors engage in nullification to let off violent attackers who are engaging in physical violence, physical assault against federal officers, this is a dangerous moment,” Miller added.
‘Propaganda’ Clip Intentionally Sparked Firestorm
Meanwhile, a former CIA operations officer, Bryan Dean Wright, argued the video was deliberate. Wright, the host of “The Wright Report” podcast, described the clip as “propaganda,” per Breitbart News.
He contended that Senator Slotkin “knew what she was doing when she put that together.” Wright explained her role as a former CIA analyst. He noted his own job was to collect intelligence, while hers was to assess the effectiveness of propaganda operations.
The President initially reacted to the video by suggesting seditious behavior could be punishable by death. However, according to the Fox News article, the White House and Trump later clarified. They stated that he did not actually wish to execute the lawmakers in question.
We want to speak directly to members of the Military and the Intelligence Community.
The American people need you to stand up for our laws and our Constitution.
Don’t give up the ship. pic.twitter.com/N8lW0EpQ7r
— Sen. Elissa Slotkin (@SenatorSlotkin) November 18, 2025