Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Just words, or did Trump mean it: "He who saves his country violates no Law."

Just words, or did Trump mean it: "He who saves his country violates no Law."
President Trump arrives at Kentucky Air Guard Base > 123rd Airlift ...

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:

President Discusses the Future of Iraqgeorgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov

  • 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.

Donald TrumpFormer President Donald Trump has promised, if re-elected, to weaponize the Justice Department against his enemies, including Joe Biden. Alex Wong/Getty Images

  • 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.

portrait of Woodrow Wilson - study - Woodrow Wilson House … | Flickrwww.flickr.com

  • 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.

Read More

Handcuffs, taxes, law, police, enforcement, tax

ProPublica has obtained the blueprint for the Trump administration’s unprecedented plan to turn over IRS records to Homeland Security in order to speed up the agency’s mass deportation efforts.

Ricardo Tomás for ProPublica

The IRS Is Building a Vast System To Share Millions of Taxpayers’ Data With ICE

The Internal Revenue Service is building a computer program that would give deportation officers unprecedented access to confidential tax data.

ProPublica has obtained a blueprint of the system, which would create an “on demand” process allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement to obtain the home addresses of people it’s seeking to deport.

Keep ReadingShow less
Shifting the Spotlight: Trump’s Epstein Strategy Echoes His 2016 Playbook

A photograph of US President Donald Trump and convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is displayed after being unofficially installed in a bus shelter on July 17, 2025 in London, England.

(Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Shifting the Spotlight: Trump’s Epstein Strategy Echoes His 2016 Playbook

This morning, many of us awoke to a jarring juxtaposition of headlines: The Wall Street Journal published a column revealing that Jeffrey Epstein received a birthday album filled with bawdy letters—including one from President Donald Trump. And shortly thereafter, news broke that Trump directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to seek the release of grand jury transcripts related to Epstein, citing mounting political pressure and intensifying public scrutiny.

Late last night, Trump took to Truth Social, posting that he had requested Bondi release “any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony, subject to Court approval,” framing the controversy as a “SCAM, perpetuated by the Democrats.”

Keep ReadingShow less
American flag, megaphone

In confronting the Trump administration's discriminatory treatment toward specific states, all of us need to be inventive and courageous.

Photo by Mikhail Nilov/pexels.com

To Stand Up for Constitutional Democracy, It’s Time for State Officials To Take Drastic Action

Sometimes, it turns out that two wrongs do make a right. In politics, a steadfast commitment to doing the morally right thing disadvantages the victims of lawlessness and injustice.

The famous Italian political thinker, Niccolo Machiavelli, captured this political imperative in 1532, when he explained that “a man who wants to act virtuously in every way necessarily comes to grief among so many who are not virtuous. Therefore, if a Prince wants to maintain his rule, he must be prepared not to be virtuous, and to make use of this or not according to need.”

Keep ReadingShow less
When Democracy’s Symbols Get Hijacked: How the Far Right Co-Opted Classical Imagery
brown concrete building under blue sky during daytime
Photo by Darryl Low on Unsplash

When Democracy’s Symbols Get Hijacked: How the Far Right Co-Opted Classical Imagery

For generations, Americans have surrounded themselves with the symbols of ancient Greece and Rome: marble columns, laurel wreaths, Roman eagles, and the fasces. These icons, carved into our government buildings and featured on our currency, were intended to embody democracy, civic virtue, and republican ideals.

But in recent years, far-right movements in the U.S. and abroad have hijacked these classical images, repackaging them into symbols of exclusion, militarism, and authoritarian nostalgia.

Keep ReadingShow less