“Liberation” in the Name of War – Donald Trump’s Speech at Fort Bragg and the End of the Republican Mask

It was announced as a celebration – a festive day in honor of the 250-year history of the U.S. Army. But what Donald Trump bellowed into the microphone on June 10, 2025, in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, sounded less like a patriotic tribute and more like a dark vision of the present: a speech forged from rage, fantasies of domination, and the martial dream of “liberating” cities that do not follow his will. The President of the United States stood at a historically charged place – Fort Bragg, home of the Green Berets, the 82nd Airborne Division, the very embodiment of American military spirit. But what Trump said was not a speech to the nation. It was a battle cry against his own people.

“We will liberate Los Angeles and make it free, clean and safe again,” Trump said, while soldiers saluted and the crowd cheered.

He spoke of “invasion,” of “foreign enemies,” of an America at war with itself. The demonstrators in Los Angeles, according to Trump, were “animals” – not citizens, not protesters, not people, but threats that had to be eradicated with military force. What happened here was more than rhetoric. Trump crossed a line that even his most loyal supporters have not regarded without unease. The war on migrants, on cities, on Democratic governors is taking new shapes – linguistically and factually.

“We will not allow an American city to be invaded and conquered by a foreign enemy. That’s what they are,” he declared.

These words were not spoken on the campaign trail, not in a TV interview, but at an official military event, accompanied by helicopter attacks, missile dummies, and soldiers in formation. The backdrop: a state-organized patriotism fair with bounce houses, camouflage, and T-shirts featuring Trump’s face – right next to the security fence on the grounds.

Whoever walked through the rows saw not only military personnel and veterans but also booths full of campaign merchandise. It was an event meant to celebrate an army – and ended up celebrating a political movement. Trump has turned the military into an extension of his campaign, into the stage for his narcissistic revision. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, an ultraconservative hardliner, flanked the president not only in uniform but with words:

“We’re not a university. We have no interest in your woke garbage and political correctness.”

The crowd cheered. Because Hegseth knew what Trump wanted to hear – and what the audience expected. What was expressed here was not just an attack on California or on Governor Gavin Newsom, who has filed for an injunction against the military deployment in federal court. It was an attack on the democratic idea itself. Those who protest are not heard – they are dehumanized. Those who contradict are not rebutted – they are subdued.

“Democracy is under assault – right before our eyes,” said Newsom in a speech that same evening.

But the president seemed unimpressed. While preparing for a birthday military spectacle in Washington, he announced further deportations. And he warned: anyone protesting at the parade would be met “with very big force.” Trump also used the day to announce another ideological reversal: the renaming of seven military bases in the South that had shed their Confederate names under President Biden. Fort Robert E. Lee, Fort Hood, Fort Polk – they are all to receive their old names again. A political regression, disguised as preservation of tradition.

“Can you believe they changed that name – just for a short time?” Trump sneered. “We’ll forget all about that.”

What remains is the impression of a celebration where the occasion became secondary. The history of the army served only as a backdrop for a performance that had more to do with personal warfare than with collective remembrance. Robin Boothe, a 50-year-old audiology assistant who works on the base and voted for Trump, put it this way:

That was classic Trump. But I thought that should have been said at a press conference – and not on a day like this.”

But the president left no doubt that he no longer sees the military as a neutral instrument of defense, but as part of his political order. A tool to “cleanse” cities, to “drive out” enemies, and to stage himself – as savior, as commander, as lord of the troops. On Saturday he will do it again. Tanks on Washington’s streets. Flags, anthems, threats of violence. The show for the president’s 79th birthday. But it won’t just be a parade. It will be a beacon – a signal to all who still believe that a different language, a different America is possible.

Because if a president wants to “liberate” Los Angeles, it is high time to ask: from whom exactly – and for whom?