In a recent display of what some might call "Trump Derangement Syndrome," David Frum, a senior editor at "The Atlantic" and a commentator for MSNBC, has put forth a rather outlandish theory.
According to Frum, President Donald Trump's decision to deploy the National Guard in response to anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles was not an act of law enforcement but a grand rehearsal for a military seizure in 2026.
As reported by RedState, Frum's theory, which appears to be based more on speculation than fact, suggests that Trump's actions in California were a calculated test of methods to disrupt and manipulate the 2026 elections.
"Yesterday, President Donald Trump ordered the National Guard to quell disorderly protests against immigration-enforcement personnel in Los Angeles. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth declared his readiness to obey Trump by mobilizing the U.S. Marines as well," Frum stated.
Frum's theory, however, seems to overlook the fact that California has more than 75,000 uniformed law-enforcement personnel with arrest powers, capable of handling the agitators. The Los Angeles Police Department alone boasts nearly 9,000 uniformed officers. Yet, Frum insists that Trump's deployment of the National Guard was not to restore law but to assert his personal dominance over the normal procedures to enforce the law.
Frum's theory also fails to consider the responses of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and California Gov. Gavin Newsom to the riots. Both have been criticized for their handling of the situation, with critics suggesting that their left-wing ideologies have influenced their responses.
Frum's theory further suggests a three-step strategy for Trump: provoke a made-for-TV disturbance, declare a state of emergency and deploy federal troops, and seize control of local government operations. This theory, however, seems to be based more on speculation than on any concrete evidence.
Over the years, there have been numerous claims from the left about Trump planning to suspend the U.S. Constitution, cancel elections, and create "constitutional crisis" after "constitutional crisis." Yet, none of these predictions have come to pass.
Ironically, while Frum accuses Trump of planning to provoke disturbances, it is the left that has often resorted to violence, as seen in the George Floyd-Black Lives Matter riots across America, anti-semitic, pro-Hamas protests, attacks against Jewish Americans, and the assassination of the CEO of a major healthcare insurer.
In an October 2020 post, Frum accused those on the far right and far left who publicized a story in the New York Post of being accomplices to a fake story. "The people on far right and far left who publicized the obviously bogus @nypost story were not dupes. They were accomplices. The story could not have been more obviously fake if it had been wearing dollar-store spectacles and attached plastic mustache," he wrote.
Frum's recent theory about Trump's deployment of the National Guard, however, seems to be just as speculative and unfounded as the story he criticized. While it is essential to scrutinize the actions of those in power, it is equally important to base such scrutiny on facts rather than speculation. As it stands, Frum's theory appears to be more of a spectacle than a credible analysis of Trump's actions.
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