# Trump is creating his own gov't-funded personal army of loyalist mercenaries **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [December 31, 2025, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-creating-his-own-govt-funded-personal-army-of-loyalist-mercenaries/1026208 "2025-12-31T16:41:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-creating-his-own-govt-funded-personal-army-of-loyalist-mercenaries/1026208/1 "2025-12-31T16:41:29Z")
Continuing the discussion from [The current second Trump administration: a compendium of horrors](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-current-second-trump-administration-a-compendium-of-horrors/1009774/2778): If trump plans to continue as president indefinitely, he will need an army. He is now building one out of ICE, and aggressively recruiting from the population most likely to support him-- uneducated, broke, gun-loving men who believe they’ve been marginalized. TV commercials recruiting ICE agents are running, promising a $50,000 signing bonus, $60,000 student loan repayment. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Mz9qrgKSfe0/maxresdefault.jpg "ICE launches nationwide recruitment campaign") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mz9qrgKSfe0) The official ICE recruitment site. > **[America Needs You](https://www.ice.gov/join)** “Choose your mission” [![](https://i.imgur.com/XHph0eg.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/XHph0eg.jpeg) [![](https://i.imgur.com/bmkszsn.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/bmkszsn.jpeg) [![](https://i.imgur.com/YmMhmvY.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/YmMhmvY.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-creating-his-own-govt-funded-personal-army-of-loyalist-mercenaries/1026208/2 "2025-12-31T16:45:22Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > TV commercials recruiting ICE agents are running, promising a $50,000 signing bonus, $60,000 student loan repayment. Wait, student loan repayment? As in, college graduates? Sounds woke. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-creating-his-own-govt-funded-personal-army-of-loyalist-mercenaries/1026208/3 "2025-12-31T16:48:59Z")
As with a lot of other things, it is only bad when “they (the left)” do it. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-creating-his-own-govt-funded-personal-army-of-loyalist-mercenaries/1026208/4 "2025-12-31T16:56:22Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > > > TV commercials recruiting ICE agents are running, promising a $50,000 signing bonus, $60,000 student loan repayment. > > Wait, student loan repayment? As in, college graduates? Sounds woke. I doubt there are many college graduates in the demographic they’re targeting. Even high school is a reach. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-creating-his-own-govt-funded-personal-army-of-loyalist-mercenaries/1026208/5 "2025-12-31T16:57:50Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Wait, student loan repayment? As in, college graduates? Well, as in people who attended college, and took out student loans. Whether they _graduated_ is a different issue. About [40% of people who have student loan debt didn’t earn a four-year degree](https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/politifact/2022/09/15/fact-check-many-student-loan-borrowers-lack-four-year-college-degree/69493947007/), and [those with debt but no degree are more than twice as likely to be in default on their loans](https://www.ppic.org/blog/repaying-student-loans-a-struggle-for-those-who-do-not-graduate/) (19% vs. 8%). ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-creating-his-own-govt-funded-personal-army-of-loyalist-mercenaries/1026208/6 "2025-12-31T17:14:47Z")
Can he do that without an act of congress? Not that that would stop him. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-creating-his-own-govt-funded-personal-army-of-loyalist-mercenaries/1026208/7 "2025-12-31T17:31:07Z")
Congress is a rubber stamp body at this point. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-creating-his-own-govt-funded-personal-army-of-loyalist-mercenaries/1026208/8 "2025-12-31T17:50:49Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Can he do that without an act of congress? He’s been largely using executive orders to do things; they allow a president to modify or change how a law is being interpreted or implemented, but don’t allow him to create new things out of whole cloth (which _would_ take an act of Congress). ICE and ICE agents already exist. This seems to be about changes to their mission, and changes to their hiring program. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-creating-his-own-govt-funded-personal-army-of-loyalist-mercenaries/1026208/9 "2025-12-31T18:38:56Z")
I’m not too worried about them hiring competent criminal investigators, if they really are analytical and really do seek the truth. Of course, I assume that’s completely false advertising, and anyone like that who is deluded enough to apply will either change their spots or resign. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-creating-his-own-govt-funded-personal-army-of-loyalist-mercenaries/1026208/10 "2025-12-31T19:28:59Z")
Funding via civil asset forfeiture, applied in the most draconian way. Undocumented roofer? Bye house. Car wash attendant? Bye car. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-creating-his-own-govt-funded-personal-army-of-loyalist-mercenaries/1026208/11 "2025-12-31T22:28:16Z")
@ThelmaLou You are correct, can’t become a dictator without an army. This explains a lot around Hegseth, and the purging of high command. BUT, there is a long road to actually get the backing of military high command, who have to hate both Hegseth and Trump. Vast majority of high command are academy graduates, ROTC graduates, or seriously pulled themselves up by their bootstraps. Then you have drunken frat boy, never paid dues, doesn’t have a clue about operational security (opsec) put in charge by Trump. At minimum, the vast majority of the officer corp consider him a REMF (rear echelon mother fucker) that is a clear and present danger to their troops. In no way ICE can stand up to the US military. Could get nasty. That said, I have zero direct military experience, so would like to hear the view from anyone that does. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-creating-his-own-govt-funded-personal-army-of-loyalist-mercenaries/1026208/12 "2025-12-31T22:37:45Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > BUT, there is a long road to actually get the backing of military high command… I can’t see him ever getting the backing of the legitimate military high command. Must get rid of them first. Yeah, it’s a long road… OTOH did we ever imagine he could wreak so much destruction in only one year? > [@China\_Guy](#): > > That said, I have zero direct military experience, so would like to hear the view from anyone that does. Me, too. ---
**Author:** ![Ancient\_Nerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed655f/32.png) [@Ancient\_Nerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ancient_Nerd)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2026, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-creating-his-own-govt-funded-personal-army-of-loyalist-mercenaries/1026208/13 "2026-01-01T00:47:10Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > That said, I have zero direct military experience, so would like to hear the view from anyone that does. I myself also have no military experience. With that said, those that do seem to take the chain of command very seriously. It sounds like a tight spot to be in right now. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2026, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-creating-his-own-govt-funded-personal-army-of-loyalist-mercenaries/1026208/14 "2026-01-01T02:38:47Z")
ICE and our stand up Army, both run by the same kind of people, clashing in any significant way? Don’t hold your breath. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2026, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-creating-his-own-govt-funded-personal-army-of-loyalist-mercenaries/1026208/15 "2026-01-01T03:11:02Z")
The problem is police would love to support and embrace fascism in the US. So in a way Trump already has a built in army of endless police officers all over city and county governments. Granted they aren’t organized, but sadly it wouldn’t be too hard for some kind of infrastructure to be built so they could act as troops. Of course if that happens, all hell will break loose. If a bunch of violent cops with 0 respect for the public start joining a fascist movement and terrorizing people, the public aren’t going to take that without fighting back. Add in the fact that jury nullification is increasingly becoming a tool that people use to resist fascism, and it could get bad. The military by and large seems too professional and diverse to embrace fascism though. But the police would happily join. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2026, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-creating-his-own-govt-funded-personal-army-of-loyalist-mercenaries/1026208/16 "2026-01-01T03:23:36Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > If a bunch of violent cops with 0 respect for the public start joining a fascist movement and terrorizing people, the public aren’t going to take that without fighting back. Been paying attention to the [news from Iran](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/world/middleeast/iran-shutdown-protests.html?unlocked_article_code=1.BFA.ZjU1.23esW5ymxgDA&smid=url-share)? The fighting back isn’t because of the ruling movement terrorizing people, but because of severe economic distress. Cut the per capita income by half, and we’ll see fighting back. Lock up green card holders? No. And the U.S. has a heck of lot of prisons to lock up said fighters backers. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2026, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-creating-his-own-govt-funded-personal-army-of-loyalist-mercenaries/1026208/17 "2026-01-01T03:41:50Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > ICE and our stand up Army, both run by the same kind of people… But they won’t be run by the same kind of people. As I see it, this ICE recruitment campaign is intending to create a body of mercenary soldiers that will be completely different from the regular military. And completely different from regular law enforcement. Furthermore, when trump is through building his army, the commanders of the new ICE won’t look anything like regular military commanders. He is creating an army to facilitate installing himself as dictator. This seems blatantly obvious to me. On the upside, I doubt if he will live long enough to accomplish it. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2026, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-creating-his-own-govt-funded-personal-army-of-loyalist-mercenaries/1026208/18 "2026-01-01T03:43:36Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > ICE and our stand up Army, both run by the same kind of people, clashing in any significant way? > Don’t hold your breath. This I pretty much agree with. Dictators like to have security bodies with overlapping responsibilities. I can see some minor clashes if both ICE and the Army are assigned to the same streets, but nothing that will be world historic. When it comes to a coup – and Trump sure talks like a coup plotter – nuclear weapons creates a special situation, not seen in most other hybrid regimes, because there is only going to be one security body that controls which alleged president has the nuclear football. ICE can’t play there. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2026, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-creating-his-own-govt-funded-personal-army-of-loyalist-mercenaries/1026208/19 "2026-01-01T03:50:21Z")
By “same kind of people”, I mean people that believe that Trump _is_ the government, and that “illegal orders” is something Gramps yammered about back in the day. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2026, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-creating-his-own-govt-funded-personal-army-of-loyalist-mercenaries/1026208/20 "2026-01-01T03:51:37Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > On the upside, I doubt if he will live long enough to accomplish it. Try this: > **[Life Expectancy Calculator](https://www.projectbiglife.ca/life-expectancy-calculator)** Of course, the dictator’s health is a state secret. I guessed that he has heart disease but not cancer, and only does the lightest exercise. They gave him nine years. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-is-creating-his-own-govt-funded-personal-army-of-loyalist-mercenaries/1026208.md?page=2)