What would happen with a Military coup

[brettdale]

Of course they wont do it even if Trumps asks, but what actually happens.

Trump just comes on TV and says the result of the election doesn't stand, and
then the military stands outside government buildings to protect trump and his administration?

[jmowreader]

1. No...

You are describing what those of us who have been in the military call an Illegal Order. If Trump were to issue such an order, the military is duty-bound to refuse to obey it. And they would.

[Thekaspervote]

3. This!

[StarfishSaver]

9. Exactly

The president is not a king.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. I would imagine a lot of Never Trumpers get arrested for just being Never Trumpers.

But I can't see The Pentagon signing on to that order.

[roamer65]

4. The country breaks apart.

CA, NY and New England go first.

[brooklynite]

5. If you follow the story line...

the Military isn’t imposing Trump on the Country; they’re imposing a revote in the States Trump lost.

[MicaelS]

6. You are being deliberately insulting to the US military.

Besides being ignorant of our system. If you knew anything, which you would know they swear an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America, not any one person as President.

[brettdale]

7. I worded my question wrong

How does a military coup work???

Im not saying the US Military would ever do this, of course they wont.

Just how does it work?

[Irish_Dem]

10. I think in the typical banana republic coup, all opponents are jailed, killed, assets seized, etc

Any citizen who objects has the same fate. There may be curfews and other restrictions to quell any citizen uprising.
The autocrat stays in power with the military backing and suppressing any dissension.

What the hell Trump had in mind is a question mark as he has descended into stark raving madness.
A sad pathetic joke at this point.

[jmowreader]

11. You're thinking about martial law, not a coup

A coup d'etat is conducted to get rid of the country's leader and replace him or her with someone the military likes better. But since you're so insistent...

Step 1 is for the military (or the civilians who have decided to stage a coup, like happened in the French Revolution) to decide they can't live with the government currently in place. A group of military leaders would pick soldiers who'd go along with their doing this, and training them on their functions when the coup went down.

Step 2 is for the military to arrest the leaders they don't like and install a provisional military government.

Step 3 is for the military to execute the leaders arrested in Step 2. Firing squads seem to be the preferred method, but when Robespierre overthrew the king of France he guillotined the entire French government, and as it turned out he then guillotined everyone else in France. (There was a political cartoon of the day that showed Robespierre with his head sticking out of the lunette of a guillotine and his hand on the release cord, the inference being that he had to guillotine himself because no one else was left alive to do it to him.)

Step 4 is for the provisional military government to help erect a new civilian government.

And Step 5 is for the new civilian government to arrest everyone in the provisional military government, charge them with overthrowing the country, and issue stiff sentences that usually involve removing them from the military.

So...if Trump decided to order the military to establish martial law to keep him in office, there's a nonzero chance the military would instead conduct a coup, overthrow the Trump administration, and call President-Elect Biden to tell him to put on a suit, call the local TV stations and get to a courthouse right fucking now to get a magistrate to swear him into the presidency.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

8. Per Wikipedia:

United States Armed Forces oath of enlistment

{snip}

Description

Upon enlisting in the United States Armed Forces, each person enlisting in an armed force (whether a soldier, Marine, sailor, airman, or Coast Guardsman) takes an oath of enlistment required by federal statute in 10 U.S.C. § 502. That section provides the text of the oath and sets out who may administer the oath:

§ 502. Enlistment oath: who may administer
(a) Enlistment Oath.— Each person enlisting in an armed force shall take the following oath:

I, (state name of enlistee), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. (So help me God)."

{snip}

Officers do not take the same oath as enlisted personnel, instead taking a similar United States Uniformed Services Oath of Office.

United States Uniformed Services Oath of Office

{snip}

Text of the Oath
I, [name], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

{snip}

[NutmegYankee]

13. "according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice".

Attacking our own government, arresting political opponents, and disobeying laws are NOT in according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

15. Yes, you are correct. I was offering a rebuttal to the statement:

... If you knew anything, which you would know they swear an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America, not any one person as President.

I was observing that enlisted personnel do swear to obey the orders of the president. The stipulation is that those orders cannot be illegal orders. Clearly, "arrest Biden so that I can stay in the White House beyond January 20" does not fall into the category of a legal order. Such an order cannot be obeyed.

Thanks for writing.

[Mariana]

12. Brettdale said, "Of course they wont do it even if Trumps asks."

That is accurate and is the opposite of insulting to the US military. Reading is FUNdamental.

[BainsBane]

14. The military will not intervene

It’s not going to happen.

[Maxheader]

16. and as stumpy looks out the window at the troops guarding americu ..

and him.. .... as Joe is sworn in...like in some weird

episode of the twilight zone, the troops slowly turn and walk

towards the white house .. towards him. And a knock on the

door,..and trump starts screaming....