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I Resigned From The Military Because Of Trump

RIP U.S. Democracy

RIP U.S. Democracy

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In a Washington Post Op-Ed today, Col Doug Krugman explains why he recently retired from the Marine Corps after 24 years.

Pardoning of the Jan 6 defendants had a lot to do with it. No decent American can accept Trump pardoning the Jan 6 traitors. Obviously, Trump does not take his oath about upholding the Constitution seriously. --

My departure was not about policy disagreements, which exist in every administration. President Trump won in 2024 and has the right to implement his policies within the law.

My first reservations were about promises and actions that I thought were morally wrong even if they were possibly legal. The Constitution gives the president the power to pardon, but pardoning roughly 1,600 of those who tried to violently overthrow the results of an election didn’t help defend the Constitution. Likewise, I didn’t see it as moral to deny refuge to Afghans who risked their lives to support us, which he did on Jan. 22. Ignoring reality to take advantage of vague laws to assume emergency powers is also immoral. For those who believe in honoring their word, breaking promises our country has made — including some trade agreements President Trump made himself — is not moral. These are not the kinds of actions that I’m willing to risk my life to defend.

Worse than immorality, however, has been President Trump’s willingness to disregard the law and Constitution to achieve his goals. When asked in May about the Fifth Amendment requirements for due process and if he needed to uphold the Constitution as president, the first words out of his mouth were “I don’t know.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/10/16/marine-resign-trump-oath-constitution/
 
Last edited by a moderator:
RIP U.S. Democracy said:
In a Washington Post Op-Ed today, Col Doug Krugman explains why he recently retired from the Marine Corps after 24 years.

Pardoning of the Jan 6 defendants had a lot to do with it. No decent American can accept Trump pardoning the Jan 6 traitors. Obviously, Trump does not take his oath about upholding the Constitution seriously. --


On Sept. 30, at an unprecedented gathering of senior military leadership, President Donald Trump said, “If you don’t like what I’m saying, you can leave the room — of course, there goes your rank, there goes your future.” I wasn’t invited to be in the room that day, and I had decided months earlier that I had to leave. By coincidence, Sept. 30 was my last day as a colonel in the United States Marine Corps. I gave up my career out of concern for our country’s future.

United States military officers take an oath to defend the Constitution without mental reservation or purpose of evasion. I swore or repeated that oath under five presidents, starting with former president Bill Clinton. I risked my life for it, serving as an infantry officer in two wars. I watched Marines die for it.

No commander in chief is perfect. President Clinton’s moral failures are well known. President George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq might be one of the worst errors in U.S. history. All recent presidents share responsibility for our failure in Afghanistan. I continued to serve despite all that because I believed the Constitution brought the country more success than failure, and I believed our presidents took their oaths to it seriously.

With President Trump, I no longer believe that. During his first term, his actions became increasingly difficult for me to justify, culminating with the Jan. 6 attack on Congress as it tried to execute its duties. I hoped he had learned from those errors, but it only took a few days of his second term for me to realize he had not. I could not swear without reservation to follow a commander in chief who seemed so willing to disregard the Constitution.

My departure was not about policy disagreements, which exist in every administration. President Trump won in 2024 and has the right to implement his policies within the law.

My first reservations were about promises and actions that I thought were morally wrong even if they were possibly legal. The Constitution gives the president the power to pardon, but pardoning roughly 1,600 of those who tried to violently overthrow the results of an election didn’t help defend the Constitution. Likewise, I didn’t see it as moral to deny refuge to Afghans who risked their lives to support us, which he did on Jan. 22. Ignoring reality to take advantage of vague laws to assume emergency powers is also immoral. For those who believe in honoring their word, breaking promises our country has made — including some trade agreements President Trump made himself — is not moral. These are not the kinds of actions that I’m willing to risk my life to defend.

Worse than immorality, however, has been President Trump’s willingness to disregard the law and Constitution to achieve his goals. When asked in May about the Fifth Amendment requirements for due process and if he needed to uphold the Constitution as president, the first words out of his mouth were “I don’t know.”

This month, National Guard officers received orders from the defense secretary that their governors opposed. A federal judge intervened, citing the lack of apparent emergency and the 10th Amendment. Those commanders and units were stuck between competing orders with no clear answer. When the president’s orders push or cross legal limits and put commanders in these situations, cohesion within our military is at risk.

President Trump’s description of Portland as a “war zone” is as fantastical as his belief that the June protests in a few blocks of Los Angeles would somehow “obliterate” the massive city of nearly 4 million. In both cases, his words had little connection to reality. Every dubious basis he gives for an order creates more room for doubt, more room for reservations and more threats to our unity.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/10/16/marine-resign-trump-oath-constitution/
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I'm at a loss for words
 
My guess is he was one of the fat boys SecDef said needed to retire as he wouldn’t meet the weight/physical standards.

Good on him for listening to leadership.
 
VySky said:
My guess is he was one of the fat boys SecDef said needed to retire as he wouldn’t meet the weight/physical standards.

Good on him for listening to leadership.
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Should the Commander in Chief meet the same weight/physical standards as Generals? Yes or No.
 
Thing is, the more good soldiers that leave, the more Hegseth-esque useless sycophants they can install.
 
Lycanthrope said:
Taco's weakening of the nation as he pillages its wealth continues.
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Fortunately, his time above ground is getting shorter and shorter. He'll probably make it to 2028 but it could be mumbling incoherently in a wheelchair, which is already happening without the wheelchair.
 
Luce said:
Thing is, the more good soldiers that leave, the more Hegseth-esque useless sycophants they can install.
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The marines were already full of Trump fanboys. They were the only branch where he was unequivocally popular.
 
VySky said:
No. What a stupid question.
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Why?
If the Sect. of War wants high ranking officers including Generals to meet standards, Why are you giving the Commander in Chief a pass?

of course you thought it was stupid because you have to defend your guy Trump.
 
VySky said:
He’s not active duty which the standard exist.
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You think Generals are on the field of battle carrying an 80lb load??
Why do Generals, who are desk based, need to meet strict fitness requirements?
 
Aristaeus said:
You think Generals are on the field of battle carrying an 80lb load??
Why do Generals, who are desk based, need to meet strict fitness requirements?
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Because their boss said so. 🤷‍♂️
 
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