Leavitt Slams Democrats Urging Troops To Defy Orders

Karoline Leavitt tore into Democratic members of Congress who urged service members and national security personnel to defy orders, saying their message endangers the chain of command and risks lives; she defended the administration’s record on lawfulness and the courts while calling for accountability for those she says are inciting dangerous behavior.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt pushed back hard after members of Congress released a video telling troops to refuse orders they claim are unlawful. She argued the video sent a “dangerous message” to roughly 1.3 million active duty service members and national security personnel. From a conservative perspective, this kind of rhetoric undermines the military discipline our nation depends on.

The video featured six Democrats with backgrounds in the military or intelligence community, and Leavitt framed their actions as a coordinated effort to encourage defiance of lawful command. She singled out those lawmakers for orchestrating a direct appeal to active duty troops and suggested the comments crossed a line. In the White House briefing room, she made clear the administration sees this as more than political theater; it is a real threat to order and safety.

Leavitt stated plainly, “Let’s be clear what the president is responding to, because many in this room want to talk about the president’s response, but not what brought the president responding in this way.” She continued by saying, “You have sitting members of the United States Congress who conspired together to orchestrate a video message to members of the United States military, to active duty service members, to members of the national security apparatus, encouraging them to defy the president’s lawful orders.” Those are strong words that reflect the administration’s zero-tolerance stance on any encouragement of disobedience within the ranks.

Leavitt warned that breaking the chain of command can lead to chaos and loss of life, insisting the sanctity of the military depends on disciplined adherence to orders. “The sanctity of our military rests on the chain of command, and if that chain of command is broken, it can lead to people getting killed, it can lead to chaos, and that’s what these members of Congress… are essentially encouraging,” she said. From a Republican viewpoint, protecting that chain of command is nonnegotiable and any attempt to erode it must be opposed vigorously.

When a reporter accused President Trump’s response of encouraging political violence, Leavitt fired back with a sharp rebuke and redirected attention to what the Democrats did. She asked why the media weren’t focusing on the lawmakers urging troops to defy orders instead of fixating on the president’s words. Her point was that context matters, and the reckless invitation to disobey lawful commands deserves scrutiny, not deflection.

Leavitt also kept the president’s legal standing central to her argument, insisting the orders issued by this Commander in Chief are lawful. “Why aren’t you talking about what these members of Congress are doing to encourage and incite violence?… They’re suggesting, Nancy, that the president has given illegal orders, which he has not,” she said. The administration frequently points to its record in the courts as proof that it acts within legal bounds, and Leavitt used that record to undercut the claim that orders are unlawful.

She doubled down: “Every single order that is given to the U.S. military by this Commander in Chief and through this chain of command, through the Secretary of War, is lawful, and the courts have proven that.” By invoking judicial validation, Leavitt aimed to neutralize claims that soldiers should pick and choose obedience based on political assertions. Republicans see such choices as dangerous and inappropriate for the uniformed services.

“This administration has an unparalleled record at the Supreme Court,” she added. “Because we are following the laws. We don’t defy court orders. We do things by the book. And to suggest and encourage that active duty service members defy the chain of command is a very dangerous thing for sitting members of Congress to do. And they should be held accountable. And that’s what the president wants to see.” That line makes clear the stakes as the White House sees them: accountability, not chaos.

Later in the briefing Leavitt pointed out what she described as hypocrisy inside the press corps, saying reactions would be different if Republican members of Congress had done the same thing. “And if this were Republican Members of Congress who were encouraging members of the military and members of our U.S. government to defy orders from the President… this entire room would be up in arms,” she said. She called the asymmetry in outrage “quite telling” and used it to challenge the media’s focus.

The video at issue, which used the phrase “Don’t give up the ship,” drew attention for its military-flavored rhetoric and for being circulated by lawmakers with service backgrounds. In the White House’s view, elected officials should not be issuing calls that could be interpreted as urging insubordination. For Republicans, defending the chain of command is essential to national security and the well-being of the troops who carry our country’s burdens.