In America’s version of military structure, it turns out you cannot order the military to violate laws on your behalf. For this reason, Donald Trump is removing military commanders and installing loyalists who will follow his orders, legal or otherwise.

There are six branches of the US military: Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space, and Coast Guard. Trump famously created the Space Force during his first term, claiming “American superiority in space is absolutely vital.” Maybe so, but here on earth the US military has a massive footprint and vast global functions. So many that the leadership of each branch has a dedicated advisor assisting with decision-making. Collectively, these advisors comprise the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the leader of that group is the Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff.

The Chairman is the highest ranking uniformed member of the US military, but neither the Chairman nor members of the Joint Chiefs have a command responsibility. They only act as administrative managers of their respective branches and advisors to the civilian control of the military, namely the Defense Secretary and the president. Only the president and SecDef have command control over the entire US armed forces.

So, why is all this organization chart mumbo jumbo important? Because Trump has decided to replace all of these neutrally aligned military commanders with people loyal to him first. Two days ago, Trump fired the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. CQ Brown Jr., and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti, and Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Jim Slife. Franchetti was the first woman to lead the Navy. Brown was the first Black person to lead a branch of the US military. (Colin Powell had the honor of the first Black person as Chairman.)

Trump and his liquored Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, have proudly said they would fire military officers for being too “woke” or for pursuing policies of DEI. Apparently being a woman or Black checks those boxes.

Not to be forgotten in all this chaos, was Trump’s firing of the Commandant of the Coast Guard, Linda Fagan, who was the first woman in American history to lead a military service. (There are organizational distinctions between Defense Department services and the Department of Homeland Security services.) I won’t list the replacements, go Google them. Suffice to say they are white men loyal first to Trump and second to their military service.

To say these personnel changes are “unprecedented”, a term quickly losing its weight as a shocker, would be laughable. Donald knows his heavy-handedness speaks as strongly as the resulting changes he made because he desperately wants to be a strongman authoritarian leader in the mold of Viktor Orbán of Hungary, or Recep Erdoğan of Turkey, two frequent guests to Mar-a-Lago.

Part of the overload strategy Trump deals out is to obfuscate one problem with another. Just a few days before the firings, JD Vance went to Munich and trashed Europe and claimed Putin was just misunderstood and was forced to invade Ukraine. Later, Trump comes and lies about Ukraine starting the war and how Zelenskyy has had three years to sign a peace deal, despite Putin rejecting all proposals to end the fighting.

Every day there is a new outrage; a new way to destabilize the nation and the world. Replacing US military leaders affords Trump the option to use the military in US domestic actions, assuming he violates or bypasses the Posse Comitatus Act, the law preventing the federal military from deploying domestically.

Many knowledgeable pundits likely agree that Trump may attempt to deploy the U.S. military to the border or in the streets of unsupportive Blue states, particularly those with legislatures and governors that are hostile to him. Trump has already expressed his intention to crack down on sanctuary cities, where local political leaders have established safe havens for undocumented people.

Historically, America has been a nation free from military control over its citizens. The deployment of armed forces to manage civilian behavior has occurred relatively rarely in the country’s history. Between 1794 and 1992, active-duty military personnel were deployed within the states on just 30 occasions. The first instance was during the Whiskey Rebellion, and the most recent was during the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles. Trump will find a way to make it 31.

Trump is seemingly self-conscious of his military reputation. He has been mocked for decades for his non-existent bone spurs that kept him out of the Vietnam War. He’s been seen as a soft little boy his whole life. Who can forget the photo of him splayed out on the bed in a bathrobe, luridly staring into the camera lens. (omg) Then there was the North Korean debacle when he visited the DMZ. Trump saluted the Korean People’s Army chief, while the general raised his arm for a handshake. Then there was Trump falling down the ramp at the West Point commencement speech in 2020. Fun stuff.

Whenever he has occasion to cross paths with the military he looks like a chump. Now he’s hoping to make a statement with his hand-picked leadership. Finally, he can use the military like a toy he thinks it is. Look out Blue states, here come the Marines – and maybe lasers from the Space Force too.