Trump Warns US in ‘Peril’ in Memorial Day Message

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Manchester, N.H., on April 27, 2023. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Former President Trump wished a happy Memorial Day to Americans but warned that the United States is in great “peril” due to individuals he said are working from within the government to destroy the country.

Trump said via his social media platform, Truth Social, that the country “has never been in greater peril than it is right now” and called on supporters to help him “stop the communists, Marxists and fascist ‘pigs’ at every turn and make [America] great again!”

The former commander-in-chief added that he sends warm regards, “especially to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for the country they love, and to those in line of a very different, but equally dangerous fire, stopping the threats of the terrorists, misfits and lunatic thugs who are working feverishly from within to overturn and destroy our once great country.”

Several weeks ago, Trump issued a similar message when he wished a “Happy Easter” to “weak and pathetic RINOs,“ referring to Republicans in name only, and ”radical left Democrats, socialists, marxists, & communists.”

“Happy Easter to all, including those that dream endlessly of destroying our country because they are incapable of dreaming about anything else,” Trump said on Truth Social.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the former president’s top rival for the Republican 2024 presidential nomination, offered his own comments on Memorial Day earlier on Monday. The governor indicated that he believes the U.S. military has veered too far to the left and indicated that he would make sweeping changes if he’s elected.

DeSantis also praised the United States as a “great country built on great values” but said that the U.S. Constitution doesn’t “run on autopilot if you don’t have people throughout history willing to put on the uniform, risk their lives and indeed give the last full measure of devotion.” He added, “And so today is a day to reflect on those that made the ultimate sacrifice, because if you don’t have people that are willing to do that, then you really can’t have a free society.”

As for Trump, he released a video several weeks ago indicating that he would attempt to purge the U.S. of left-wing, or “Marxist,” district attorneys days after he was indicted by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office for allegedly falsifying business records in connection to payments made in the 2016 election. If elected, the former president said he would also name 100 U.S. attorneys who would support his agenda.

“As we completely overhaul the federal Department of Justice and FBI, we will also launch sweeping civil rights investigations into Marxist local district attorneys,” Trump said in a mid-April video posted to his YouTube page. “And that’s what we have—they are Marxist in many cases.”

Other 2024 candidates such as Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), who announced his presidential bid earlier this month, and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley also offered remarks on Memorial Day.

“Over 1.3 million Americans have lost their lives in service to a greater cause. Today, let us not only reflect, but let us be emboldened by their sacrifice, let us live each and every day as a way of saying thank you to the men and women we’ve never met. Our responsibility is to live our lives as Americans because the price is too high for us to live anything less than our very best,” Scott said in a video clip on Twitter.

And Haley wrote that “blessings come with a price paid by so many brave men and women in our military. Let’s honor them today—and every day—with the greatest gift: teaching our kids to love America.”

“We don’t have to be Rome. We don’t have to be Carthage. We’re just a little young,” GOP candidate Vivek Ramaswamy posted Monday. “Going through our version of adolescence. Figuring out who we really are as we grow up. I’m confident we’ll be even stronger for it. Happy Memorial Day.”

Future Events

Trump announced his third run for the White House after the 2022 midterms concluded in November. He is slated to hold a town hall event with Fox News’ Sean Hannity on June 1 at 9 p.m. ET, coming about two weeks after a town hall he held with CNN.

It comes after he railed against Fox News after the network parted ways with former host Tucker Carlson in late April and said it focuses too much on DeSantis, who announced his presidential bid last Wednesday. Just moments after DeSantis launched his bid on Twitter with CEO Elon Musk, he held an interview with Trey Gowdy during “Fox News Tonight,” which airs during the 8 p.m. timeslot that was once occupied by Carlson.

“They are desperately pushing DeSanctimonious who, regardless, is dropping like a rock,” Trump said in a recent post on his Truth Social. “Fox News has become the DeSanctimonious Network, but it will never work because he doesn’t have the goods.”

Polls have shown that DeSantis is lagging behind Trump by about 30 percentage points, but the governor is easily beating out the likes of Haley, Scott, Ramaswamy, and radio host Larry Elder.