American Civil-Military Relations Since George Washington: Has Donald Trump Changed The Dynamic?

To understand the impact President Donald J. Trump might have on civil-military relations in the United States of America, requires a historical dissection and understanding of how the American military came into being and its relationship with political institutions over two centuries. Relying on historical antecedents, the future of the Trump administration’s foreign policy and relations with its military will likely remain stable in status quo terms. However, Trump’s demonstration of a “hands-off†approach to national security strategy appears to have given the US military more autonomy than is typical of most presidential administrations. While this would likely be a dangerous decision in most other countries, the institutional resilience of the American military and its normative and legalistic dedication to the United States government suggests that this newfound authority will likely prove beneficial given the complexity of the international system in the 21st century. Finally, I introduce the concept of post-Civil Military Relations where a military can still be dedicated to the political institutions of the state regardless of perceptions about credibility and legitimacy. Understanding such ideas will provide a framework of how American national security strategy will be developed and executed in the era of President Trump.