Yes, Trump said he’d use the military against Americans he called ‘the enemy from within’

On Oct. 16, Vice President Kamala Harris sat down with Fox News’ Bret Baier in an exclusive interview ahead of the November election.

During the interview, Harris claimed former President Donald Trump has suggested he would turn the United States military on Americans who he’s referred to as an “enemy from within.”

“He has repeated it many times. You and I both know that he has talked about turning the American military on the American people,” Harris told Baier.

Multiple VERIFY readers, including Janie and John, messaged us to ask if Harris’ claims about Trump were accurate.

THE QUESTION

Did Donald Trump say he’d use the military against Americans he called “the enemy from within”?

THE SOURCES

• Lex Fridman Podcast interview with Former President Donald Trump on Sept. 3, 2024
• Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures interview with Former President Donald Trump on Oct. 13, 2024
• Fox News’ The Faulkner Focus Town Hall with Former President Donald Trump on Oct. 16, 2024
• Steven Cheung, communications director for the Trump campaign

THE ANSWER

Yes, Donald Trump said he’d use the military against Americans he called “the enemy from within.”

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WHAT WE FOUND

Former President Donald Trump has said he would use the military against Americans who he referred to as “the enemy from within” in multiple interviews, as Vice President Kamala Harris claimed.

On Oct. 13, during an interview with Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo, Trump was asked if he is expecting chaos on Election Day. The former president said he was not anticipating mayhem from “the side that votes for Trump” but from what he called “the enemy from within.”

“I think the bigger problem is the enemy from within, not even the people that have come in and [are destroying] our country — I don’t think they’re the problem in terms of Election Day — I think the bigger problem are the people from within,” Trump said.

“We have some very bad people; we have some sick people, radical left lunatics. And it should be very easily handled, if necessary, by the National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military, because they can’t let that happen,” Trump added.

Later in the interview, Trump told Bartiromo “the enemy from within, in my opinion, is more dangerous than China, Russia” and other foreign adversaries of the United States.

“I always say, so we have two enemies — we have the outside enemy and then we have the enemy from within…. The thing that’s tougher to handle are these lunatics that we have inside, like Adam Schiff…. Adam Shifty Schiff, who’s a total sleazebag, is going to become a senator. But I call him the enemy from within,” Trump said. Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff, of California, served on the congressional committee that investigated Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Trump made similar comments during a taped town hall with Fox News’ Harris Faulkner on Oct. 15.

“Mr. President, Kamala Harris has said you sounded ‘unhinged’ and ‘unchecked power is in our future.’ What do you say about that?” Faulkner asked Trump.

“You know, they are… they’re a party of sound bites,” Trump said in response. “They’re very different and it is the enemy from within and they’re very dangerous. They’re Marxists and Communists and fascists and they’re sick.”

“I use a guy like Adam Schiff because they made up the Russia Russia Russia hoax…. They’re dangerous for our country. We have China. We have Russia. We have all these countries. If you have a smart president, they can all be handled. The more difficult are, you know, the Pelosis — these people…. they’re so sick and they’re so evil,” Trump continued.

In a statement, Steven Cheung, communications director for the Trump campaign, told VERIFY the former president’s “enemy from within” remarks are referring to people seeking to cause chaos on Election Day.

“President Trump is 100% correct — those who seek to undermine democracy by sowing chaos in our elections are a direct threat, just like the terrorist from Afghanistan that was arrested for plotting multiple attacks on Election Day within the United States,” Cheung said.

These aren’t the first instances of the former president using the term “enemy from within.”

On Sept. 3, during an interview on the Lex Fridman Podcast, Trump told Fridman: “I believe you have to fight fire with fire. I believe they’re very evil people. These are evil people. You know, we have an enemy from the outside and we have an enemy from within. And in my opinion, the enemy from within are radical left lunatics, and I think you have to fight back.”

VERIFY reached out to the Harris campaign for comment but did not hear back by the time of publication.