President Donald Trump on Thursday called a group of Democratic lawmakers traitors over a video they published online informing members of the military and intelligence communities that they made an oath to the Constitution and must not follow illegal orders. Photo by Will Oliver/UPI | License Photo
President Donald Trump on Thursday called a handful of ex-military Democratic lawmakers “traitors” who should be jailed over a video they published online informing active service members of their oath to protect the Constitution and their responsibility to refuse illegal orders.
In a series of statements published on his Truth Social media platform, Trump described their actions as “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!!” and “Dangerous to our Country.”
“Their words cannot be allowed to stand,” he said in one post.
“It’s called SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL,” he said in another. “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.”
Trump also shared posts by other people, with at least two calling for the Democratic lawmakers to be hanged.
The statements were in response to a video published online by six Democratic members of Congress who have served in either the military or national intelligence.
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
In the video, published Tuesday, the lawmakers address members of the military and intelligence community directly, stating that the Trump administration was putting the trust of the public in the military at risk through allegedly pitting them against one another. The lawmakers state members of the military and intelligence communities have made an oath to protect the Constitution, which they said was being threatened.
“Our laws are clear,” Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., a former astronaut and a U.S. Navy combat pilot, said,”you can refuse illegal orders.”
“You must refuse illegal orders,” said Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Pa., who also served in the U.S. Navy.
“Don’t give up the ship,” said Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., a former CIA officer.
It was not clear about which orders they were saying were illegal.
The other Democrats in the video were Reps. Maggie Goodlander, a former Navy reservist from New Hampshire; Chrissy Houlahan, a former Air Force officer from Pennsylvania; and Jason Crow, a former Army Ranger from Colorado.
The video was published amid rising tensions in the United States, as National Guardsmen have been deployed to various Democrat-led cities to aid immigration law enforcement with the Trump administration’s crackdown on migrants.
It also comes amid a military buildup near Venezuela and as the Trump administration has killed dozens of people in attacks in international waters of the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean on accusations that they were shipping drugs to the United States. The more than 20 attacks have drawn domestic and international condemnation, with U.N. experts saying they amount to extrajudicial killings and the president of Colombia accusing Trump of murder.
Trump’s comments were swiftly met concerned rebuttals from Democrats and free speech organizations, some of which accused the president of encouraging violence against the lawmakers.
“I’ve had a missile blow up next to my airplane, been shot at dozens of times by anti-aircraft fire and launched into orbit — all for my country. I never thought I’d see a president call for my execution,” Kelly said in a statement.
“Trump doesn’t understand the Constitution, and we’re all less safe for it.”
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., called Trump’s comments “disturbing” and his behavior “unhinged, dangerous and un-American.”
“Will any Republican senators step up to condemn these statements?” he asked.
PEN America told UPI in an emailed statement that Trump had crossed “a serious and dangerous red line.”
“This rhetoric is an effort to chill speech and intimidate the president’s critics but it also puts people at risk,” said Hadar Harris, the non-profit free speech advocacy organization’s managing director in Washington.
“Particularly in the context of escalating political violence, PEN America condemns this in the strongest terms.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters during a press conference on Thursday that the president was not calling for the execution of the Democratic lawmakers and that they were “encouraging” members of the military to defy the president’s orders.
“The sanctity of our military rests on the chain of command and if that chain of command is broken, it can lead to people getting killed. It can lead to chaos,” she said. “And that’s what these members of Congress who swore an oath to abide by the Constitution are essentially encouraging.”
She called the message the six Democrats conveyed in their video “radical.”
“This is a very, very dangerous message and it, perhaps, is punishable by law,” she said.
