Donald Trump Jr. Says Military 'Politicized,' Knocks Stunt Against Marjorie Taylor Greene

Donald Trump Jr. on Friday criticized Guam's congressional delegate Michael San Nicolas for a stunt where he and members of the National Guard delivered cookies to freshman Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene on Monday. Trump felt the guardsmen were being used to intimidate the congresswoman and said that the military was being "politicized."

Trump also alluded to recent spats between Fox News personality Tucker Carlson and military members, who have recently traded remarks after the right-wing commentator complained about the military becoming more "feminine." Trump said that he would release another video speaking on Carlson's feud with military.

"Guys, what the hell is going on with our military this last week?" Trump began in his video, which appeared on Rumble and features the former president's son standing in front of palm trees. "It's been politicized like we've never seen before. They're literally attacking American civilians."

During a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) last month, Greene referred to Guam as a foreign country. "We believe our hard-earned tax dollars should just go for America—not for what, China, Russia, the Middle East, Guam—whatever, wherever," she said in part.

Guam has been a U.S. territory since 1899, following the Spanish-American War. Due to the congresswoman's error, the delegate took members of the National Guard to pay Greene a visit, delivering cookies and what appeared to be books about the territory. A video capturing the visit showed what appeared to be a friendly exchange between the congressman and members of Greene's staff, as the congresswoman wasn't in her office at the time. "I also have my Guam guardsman, who are out here on deployment, they wanted to come out here and say hi," Nicolas can be heard saying.

Greene's legislative director thanked the military members for their service.

In his Rumble clip, Trump said he was not impressed with the stunt, expressing his belief that the congressman was attacking Greene maliciously. "Their rep, Michael San Nicolas, marches Guam National Guard Members in uniform through the halls of Congress to her office to show her, to teach her so she learns," he said.

Trump continued, calling on Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to take action. "Since when is it okay to use active-duty military personnel to intimidate American civilians? Let alone a sitting member of Congress," he said. "It's not, and it's absolutely disgusting. How could this not be seen as a show of force to intimidate someone? How could it be seen as anything? Where is the secretary of defense as all of this stuff is going on?"

Greene was similarly unimpressed with the stunt. In a letter to Austin and Chief of the National Guard Bureau General Daniel Hokanson, she cited the incident as part of a "trend" where the military was being used to "intimidate civilians, harass members of Congress and their staffs, and attack conservative journalists." She referred to the visit as an "ambush."

Trump also said that perhaps Guam should focus on Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia for mistakenly suggesting that the island would tip over, including in his video a clip of the House Armed Services committee hearing where Johnson made the gaffe. The clip seems to be from 2010. The congressman responded to critics in 2017 to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, saying that he was speaking metaphorically.

This still did not stop Trump from offering criticisms of the congressman for the statements from over a decade ago. "If Guam wanted to teach someone a lesson, maybe they should teach Hank Johnson a lesson about geology and how land works and what an island is, because this guy is making military decisions as well, and he doesn't even know that islands aren't boats," he said.

Before concluding the clip, Trump said he'd speak further about Tucker Carlson and called on Austin to "wake the hell up."

"We cannot allow the U.S. military and members of the armed forces in full fatigues to be used to intimidate civilians," he said. Even if Greene "should've known better" in terms of Guam's status, he added, "you don't do this in America."

Newsweek reached out to the Trump organization for comment.