The military is the last safeguard of democracy. Is Donald Trump bending it to his will?

In November, six Democratic lawmakers recorded a video directed at members of the US military and intelligence agencies. In it, they issued a blunt reminder:

The laws are clear: you can refuse illegal orders. […] You must refuse illegal orders.

The lawmakers were issuing the warning against the backdrop of US airstrikes on boats off the coast of Latin America the Trump administration claims are suspected drug runners. Many Democrats and legal experts, however, argue these strikes, as well as the subsequent arrest of Nicolas Maduro and his wife, are illegal.

Since returning to office, Trump has successfully expanded his power over his own party, the courts and the American people. Now, like many autocrats around the world, he’s trying to exert control over the military.

In the final episode of The Making of Autocrat, Joe Wright, a political science professor at Penn State University, says:

I am very concerned that getting the military to do illegal things will not only put US soldiers at more risk when they do engage in international missions in the future […] it’s a first step to using the military to target domestic political opponents.

That’s what really worries me.

Listen to the interview with Joe Wright at The Making of an Autocrat podcast, available at Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.

This episode was written by Justin Bergman and produced and edited by Isabella Podwinski and Ashlynne McGhee. Sound design by Michelle Macklem.

Newsclips in this episode from MS NOW, PBS Newshour, Reuters, and US Department of Homeland Security.

Listen to The Conversation Weekly via any of the apps listed above, download it directly via our RSS feedor find out how else to listen here. A transcript of this episode is available via the Apple Podcasts or Spotify apps.