Reports of martial law talk in White House meeting spark outrage in Washington, denial from Donald Trump
- Donald Trump says reports martial law was discussed in White House meeting where ‘fake news’
- Accounts of meeting – which reportedly devolved into ‘screaming matches’ – raised eyebrows in Washington
With one month to go until Joe Biden takes office, Donald Trump remains fixated on his failed bid to overturn the 2020 election – with his advisers reportedly floating the idea of invoking martial law, triggering outrage and disbelief in Washington.
Trump has stayed largely out of sight as several hugely consequential matters play out in the United States: from a massive cyberattack to high-stakes talks on a huge Covid-19 relief package to the roll-out of a historic vaccine campaign.
But, according to accounts in The New York Times, CNN and The Wall Street Journal, the president found time Friday to oversee a turbulent White House meeting to discuss new ways to resist or overturn Biden’s victory – with the idea of deploying the military to assist in his fight raised, before being shot down.
Multiple reports said Trump also considered seizing election machines to inspect them; and naming Sidney Powell, a lawyer for his campaign team who has put forward outlandish conspiracy theories, as a special counsel to keep digging into Trump’s unsubstantiated allegations of mass election fraud.
Present at the fractious Oval Office meeting was retired general Michael Flynn, who was briefly the national security adviser before resigning under pressure, admitting to lying to the FBI, and then, in November, being pardoned by Trump.
