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President Donald Trump on Friday said there wasn't a reason, in the present, to invoke the Insurrection Act, as agitators continue to clash with federal immigration authorities carrying out enforcement operations in Minneapolis.
Trump was departing the White House when he was asked about the 1807 law, which he threatened to invoke earlier this week.
"I believe it was Bush, the elder Bush, he used it, I think 28 times," Trump told reporters. "It's been used a lot. And if I needed it, I'd use it. I don't think there's any reason right now to use it, but if I needed it, I'd use it. It's very powerful."
The law allows the president to deploy the military to suppress rebellions and enforce federal laws. It would grant Trump the authority to federalize the National Guard and deploy active duty forces to restore order. It would temporarily override the Posse Comitatus Act, which normally restricts the use of the military for domestic law enforcement.
MINNEAPOLIS POLICE CHIEF SAYS IF RHETORIC KEEPS ESCALATING 'WE ARE HEADED TOWARDS YET ANOTHER TRAGEDY'
The law reportedly hasn't been invoked since the 1992 Los Angeles riots, which began after four police officers were acquitted in the beating of Rodney King.
Despite Trump's threat, some Republicans are resistant to the idea of using the centuries-old law.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., seemed to downplay Trump's threat, placing his hope in local law enforcement's ability to "settle things down."
"Hopefully the local officials working with not only the federal law enforcement, ICE and other agencies, but also the local law enforcement officials will be able to settle things down," Thune told reporters.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker, R-Miss., cast doubt on whether it would be appropriate to invoke the act, according to The Hill.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Ala., also expressed her concerns about the move, saying that the administration needs to be "very careful," The Hill reported.
In a Truth Social post on Friday, Trump said "Troublemakers, Agitators, and Insurrectionists" that have been seen violently confronting federal officers are "highly paid professionals" in many cases.
"The Governor and Mayor don't know what to do, they have totally lost control," he wrote. "If, and when, I am forced to act, it will be solved, QUICKLY and EFFECTIVELY! President DJT."
WHITE HOUSE BLAMES DEMOCRATS FOR ICE VIOLENCE AS MINNEAPOLIS ERUPTS, INSURRECTION ACT THREAT LOOMS
Fox News Digital has reached out to the offices of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.
Trump has accused Walz, Frey and other local leaders of inflaming tensions and has blamed dangerous rhetoric for the doxxing and violence directed at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
On Thursday, he threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act if the violence continued in Minnesota.
"If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don't obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
