1. United States
2. Iowa
3. Letter

I am writing to you with outrage and deep concern over the way Donald Trump abused the National Guard as his personal gestapo during his presidency—and the shame that those very troops now carry for the role they were forced to play. The National Guard exists to protect Americans in times of crisis, not to be weaponized against peaceful citizens for political theater. Yet under Trump, Guardsmen were deployed in ways that violated the very spirit of their service. According to firsthand accounts, many of these troops now feel guilt and remorse for being turned against the people they swore to defend. They understand that they were used as political tools, not guardians of democracy. That shame belongs not only to the troops who were ordered to stand against their own neighbors but also to every member of Congress who stood by and enabled Trump’s abuses of power. History will not be kind to those who refused to check a president willing to treat the military as a private enforcer. I demand that you take responsibility for your part in allowing this to happen. Congress must ensure that the National Guard is never again turned into a political weapon. That requires legislation that places stricter limits on the executive branch’s ability to deploy the Guard domestically for partisan ends, as well as accountability for those who issued or supported such orders in the past. The men and women of the Guard deserve better than to live with shame for carrying out political stunts. The American people deserve leaders who will stand up for the Constitution instead of bowing to authoritarian impulses. Your silence and complicity have already caused harm. What you choose to do now will determine whether that harm is repaired or cemented in history.