Donald Trump has issued a stark warning to Democratic lawmakers, suggesting they could face execution following their call for military personnel to disobey orders.
In a post on Truth Social on Thursday, the former president labeled their actions as “seditious behavior, punishable by death!” He added, “This is really bad, and dangerous to our country. Their words cannot be allowed to stand.”
The controversy stems from a video released by Senators Mark Kelly and Elissa Slotkin, alongside Representatives Jason Crow, Maggie Goodlander, Chris Deluzio, and Chrissy Houlahan—all of whom are military veterans. The group urged service members to resist “illegal orders.”
The video features each lawmaker, representing a diverse range of military backgrounds from the CIA, Air Force, Army, and Navy, making a heartfelt appeal to the troops.
“You must refuse illegal orders,” the lawmakers stated emphatically. “No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our constitution.”
‘You must refuse illegal orders,’ the lawmakers said. ‘No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our constitution.’
The video enraged Trump, the commander-in-chief of all the US’s military forces, who has spent his morning bashing the ‘traitors’ on social media.
Trump even reposted someone calling for the lawmakers to be executed. ‘Hang them George Washington Would!’ the Truth Social entry shared by the president said.
President Donald Trump has suggested some Democrats should be hanged for making seditious calls for troops to defy the Republican’s orders
![Pentagon boss Pete Hegseth and Trump. Hegseth called the video evidence of 'Stage 4 [Trump Derangement Syndrome]'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/11/20/16/103904413-15310121-image-a-70_1763654749279.jpg)
Pentagon boss Pete Hegseth and Trump. Hegseth called the video evidence of ‘Stage 4 [Trump Derangement Syndrome]’
The lawmakers did not specify which ‘illegal orders’ they were urging troops to disobey, but it comes as Trump is facing criticism for strikes on ‘narco terrorist’ boats that the administration claims are bringing drugs to the US.
The Democrats also never specified what the soldiers should do if they receive unlawful commands.
‘It’s called seditious behavior at the highest level,’ another one of Trump’s posts about the lawmakers reads.
‘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.’
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth called the video evidence of ‘Stage 4 [Trump Derangement Syndrome].’
But the Democrats defended their video, claiming that the commander-in-chief had put troops in an unenviable position where they are being forced to break the law.
‘We are standing by our troops, our service members who are often put in very difficult positions and Donald Trump has put them in very difficult positions and has alluded to putting them in even more difficult positions in the months and years ahead,’ Crow, a Colorado Democrat and former Army Ranger, explained to Fox News on Wednesday.
‘So we are reminding folks about what the uniform code of military justice says, what the Constitution says, what the law of war says,’ he added.
US forces on November 6 struck another alleged drug trafficking boat in the Caribbean, killing three people, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said. Over 80 people have been killed in the strikes so far
Crow also cited Trump’s deployment of the National Guard around the country as a cause for concern among soldiers.
The Democrat also pushed back on claims that the video was inspired by the military’s current buildup in the Caribbean.
In recent months, the US has conducted at least 20 lethal strikes on alleged narco-terrorist boats bringing drugs illegally to the US.
The videos of the strikes, which have killed at least 80 people, have regularly been reposted by Hegseth and Trump.
Senator Kelly of Arizona, who was prominently featured in the video, pushed back on Trump advisor Stephen Miller’s claim that the Democrats were citing an insurrection.
‘I got shot at serving our country in combat, and I was there when your boss sent a violent mob to attack the Capitol,’ the Navy veteran said. ‘I know the difference between defending our Constitution and an insurrection, even if you don’t.’
