On February 14, 2025, President Donald Trump shared this quote on Truth Social and X: "He who saves his country violates no Law."
I’ve learned with President Donald Trump not always to take him literally but to take him seriously. In this case, I am taking his comment very seriously.
It appears that this specific quote, "He who saves his country violates no Law," which is first attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte, was not used by Trump before his post. Not surprisingly, the post has drawn widespread attention and criticism, for obvious reasons, given its implications about executive authority and legality if the words become more than just words.
The statement exemplifies a logical fallacy called "Appeal to Patriotism" or "Appeal to Nationalism."
This fallacy occurs when someone argues that an action is justified or acceptable simply because it is done in the name of one's country or patriotism, regardless of whether it violates laws or ethical principles. In this case, the statement "He who saves his country violates no Law" suggests that any action taken to save the country is inherently lawful. This is a flawed argument because it ignores the possibility of illegal or unethical actions being taken under the guise of patriotism.
Should Trump continue to espouse the concept that anything he does is legal if he is trying to save the country, the ethical and legal implications are serious and must be challenged.
Surprisingly, there have been several instances in American history where presidents have used the "Appeal to Patriotism" to justify their actions or policies. Some notable examples are:
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- President George W. Bush: After the attacks on September 11, 2001, President Bush often invoked patriotism to garner support for the War on Terror and the invasion of Iraq. He framed these actions as necessary for protecting American freedom and security, suggesting that opposing these measures was unpatriotic.
Former President Donald Trump has promised, if re-elected, to weaponize the Justice Department against his enemies, including Joe Biden.
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- President Donald Trump: During his 2020 campaign, he argued that voting for Joe Biden would mean China winning, implying that supporting him was the patriotic choice.
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- President Woodrow Wilson: During World War I, Wilson used patriotic rhetoric to justify the U.S. entry into the war. He framed the war as a fight for democracy and freedom, suggesting that opposing the war effort was unpatriotic.
Historically, there have been instances where U.S. presidents have turned their patriotic words into actions by invoking the Insurrection Act, which is the proper way to proceed.
The Insurrection Act allows the president to deploy the military domestically to suppress insurrections and domestic violence or to enforce federal law. While the Act is legal, its invocation has sometimes been controversial. It has been invoked several times throughout US history:
- President George Washington invoked the Act to suppress the Whiskey Rebellion.
- 1831: President Andrew Jackson used it during the Nullification Crisis.
- 1871: President Ulysses S. Grant invoked it to combat the Ku Klux Klan during Reconstruction.
- 1957 & 1962: President Dwight D. Eisenhower used it to enforce school desegregation in Little Rock, Arkansas.
- 1992: President George H.W. Bush deployed federal troops to Los Angeles during the riots following the Rodney King verdict.
President Donald Trump threatened to invoke it during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests but never actually did so.
Using the premise of national security, saving the country, or patriotism to justify actions is understandable if the actions don’t violate the Constitution. The historical examples cited were opposed at the time by political opponents who argued that the use of the Insurrection Act pushed the limits of legal authority.
The Insurrection Act does provide specific criteria for when it can be invoked. According to the Act, the President can deploy the military domestically in the following situations:
- When requested by a state's legislature or governor: If a state legislature or governor requests federal assistance to address an insurrection against that state.
- When it is impracticable to enforce the law: If an insurrection in any state makes it impracticable to enforce the law through regular means.
- To protect constitutional rights: If an insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy results in the deprivation of constitutionally secured rights, the state is unable or unwilling to protect those rights.
Unfortunately, the Insurrection Act does not require a state legislature or governor to "prove" an insurrection exists in a formal legal sense before requesting federal assistance, which opens up the possibility of its being used to justify political objectives. However, the Act requires that the request be based on a genuine and serious situation where the state authorities cannot handle the insurrection or enforce the law effectively on their own. Ultimately, the decision to invoke the Insurrection Act rests with the President, who must assess the situation and determine whether the criteria for invoking the Act are met.
The state officials would need to provide the President with sufficient information to justify the invocation of the Insurrection Act. This information would likely include details about the nature and extent of the insurrection, the inability of local law enforcement to maintain order, and the potential threat to public safety and constitutional rights.
It is clear that the President was wrong on February 14th when he said, "He who saves his country violates no Law." The President operates within the framework of the U.S. Constitution and is subject to checks and balances from the other branches of government, including Congress and the Supreme Court.
Whether Trump will choose to test the principle remains to be seen.
David Nevins is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and co-founder and board chairman of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund.
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers the State of the Union address during a joint session of Congress in the House Chamber at the Capitol on Feb. 24, 2026, in Washington, D.C. Trump delivered his address days after the Supreme Court struck down the administration's tariff strategy, and amid a U.S. military buildup in the Persian Gulf threatening Iran.
Some MAGA loyalists have turned on Trump. Why the rest haven’t
I recently watched "A Face in the Crowd" for the umpteenth time.
I had a better reason than procrastination to rewatch Elia Kazan’s brilliant 1957 film exploring populism in the television age. It was homework. I was asked to discuss it with Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz at the just-concluded TCM Film Festival in Los Angeles. As a pundit and an author, I do a lot of public speaking. But I don’t really do a lot of cool public speaking, so this was a treat.
With that not-very-humble brag out of the way, I had a depressing realization watching it this time.
"A Face in the Crowd" tells the story of a charming drifter with a dark side named Larry “Lonesome” Rhodes, played brilliantly by Andy Griffith. A singer with the gift of the gab, Rhodes takes off on radio but quickly segues to the brand-new medium of television. He becomes a national sensation — and political kingmaker — by forming a deep connection with the masses, particularly among the rural and working classes. His core audience is made up of people with grievances. “Everybody that’s got to jump when somebody else blows the whistle,” as Rhodes puts it.
The film’s climax (spoiler alert) comes when Rhodes’ manager and spurned lover, Marcia, turns on the microphone while the credits rolled at the end of “Cracker Barrel,” his national TV show. Rhodes tells his entourage what he really thinks of the “morons” in his audience. “Shucks, I can take chicken fertilizer and sell it to them for caviar. I can make them eat dog food, and they’ll think it’s steak. … Good night, you stupid idiots.”
It was a canonical “hot mic” moment in American cinema. But the idea that if people could glimpse the “real person” behind the popular facade, they’d turn on them is a very old theme in literature — think Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" (1782) or Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s "The School for Scandal" (1777), in which diaries and letters do the work of microphones.
Kazan and screenwriter Budd Schulberg were very worried about the ability of demagogues to whip up populist fervor and manipulate the masses through the power of TV, in part because everyone had already seen it happen with radio and film, by Father Coughlin in America and Hitler in Germany. But as dark as their vision was, they still clung to the idea that if the demagogue was exposed, the people would instantly turn on their leader in an “Emperor’s New Clothes” moment for the mass media age.
And that’s the source of my depressing realization. I think they were wrong. It turns out that once that organic connection is made, even a shocking revelation of the truth won’t necessarily break the spell.
In 2016, a lot of writers revisited "A Face in the Crowd" to understand the Trump phenomenon. After all, here was a guy who used a TV show — "The Apprentice" — and social media to build a massive following, going over the heads of the “establishment.” Trump’s own hot mic moment with "Access Hollywood," in which he boasted of his sexual predations, proved insufficient to undo him. That was hardly the only such moment for him. We’ve heard Trump bully the Georgia secretary of state to “find 11,780 votes.” He told Bob Woodward he deliberately “played down” COVID-19. After leaving office, he was recorded telling aides he shouldn’t be sharing classified documents with them — then doing it anyway. And so on.
Trump’s famous claim that he could “shoot somebody” on Fifth Avenue and not lose any voters may have been hyperbole. But it’s not crazy to think he wouldn’t lose as many voters as he should.
In the film, Lonesome Rhodes implodes when Americans encounter his off-air persona. The key to Trump’s success is that he ran as his off-air persona. Why people love that persona is a complicated question. Among the many complementary explanations is that he comes across as authentic, and some people value authenticity more than they value good character, honesty, or competence.
This is not just a problem for Republicans. Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner once had a Nazi tattoo and has said things about women as distasteful as Trump’s “grab them by (the genitals)” comments, and the Democratic establishment is rallying around him because he’s authentic — and because Democrats want to win that race.
Many prominent MAGA loyalists are turning on Trump these days. They claim — wrongly in my opinion — that he’s changed and that the Iran war is a betrayal of their cause. But if you look at the polls, voters who describe themselves as “MAGA” still overwhelmingly support Trump. In short, he still has the Fifth Avenue voters on his side.
Jonah Goldberg is editor-in-chief of The Dispatch and the host of The Remnant podcast. His Twitter handle is @JonahDispatch.