Were "50,000 secret USA troops" just deputized by Donald Trump? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that any service members have been deputized by former President Donald Trump and made "Federal Marshals." A parody Twitter account made the original claim and used non-related social media posts to make the false connection. Trump is no longer the commander in chief of the military as of January 20, 2021, per Article 20 of the U.S. Constitution, and therefore has no power to command the troops, as Lead Stories has previously reported. There is also no proof that he is secretly deputizing troops and Trump, as a former president, does not have that authority.
The claim appeared as an article published by Beach Broadcast News on October 18, 2021, titled "50,000 Secret USA Troops - Deputized! Just getting started!" (archived here) which opened:
Complimentary Commemorative Note with every PainAbsolveRXPill.com order. Note is sent separately. PART 1 - Reporting Sunday 10/17/2021 Il Donaldo tweeted this today (10/17/2021): Interesting because on Friday and Saturday two things were trending: And this Pelosi news today: So what the heck is going on? With recent news about Space Force busy, US Marshals trending, Pelosi stepping down, the sickos that was getting treated for a strange infection to being released. But wait...one report showe
Users on social media only saw this title, description and thumbnail:
50,000 Secret USA Troops - Deputized! Just getting started!
Complimentary Commemorative Note with every PainAbsolveRXPill.com order. Note is sent separately. PART 1 - Reporting Sunday 10/17/2021 Il Donaldo tweeted this today (10/17/2021): Interesting because on Friday and Saturday two things were trending: And this Pelosi news today: So what the heck is going on? With recent news about Space Force busy, US Marshals trending, Pelosi stepping down, the sickos that was getting treated for a strange infection to being released. But wait...one report showe
The article opens with a photograph of Trump from the December 12, 2020 Army Navy Football Game at West Point, according to a caption of the photo published on FoxNews.com:
The image on Beach Broadcast News has a letter Q, a symbol of the debunked conspiracy theory QAnon, on the image with the caption:
Trump Commands Over 50,000 Secret Troops. They all have been Deputized as Federal Marshals."
The article posts several social media posts but none of them say that there are 50,000 troops that have been secretly deputized by Trump.
The first social media post in the article is a tweet from the parody account il Donaldo Trumpo
@PapiTrumpo that shows a mocked-up image of Trump in a Revolutionary War uniform and a sombrero with the caption, "The Real Presidento."
The description of the account reads: Me look like el Presidento, but me no him, señor twitter Jacko and his no-hug twitter niños. I mucho different with glorioso moustachio. Please no ban me again.
WE'RE JUST GETTING STARTED WITH THIS MOVIE!!!
-- il Donaldo Trumpo (@PapiTrumpo) October 17, 2021
BUCKLE UPO, BUTTERCUPOS!!! pic.twitter.com/fXcOmznhx5
The other random details in the article include a screen grab showing an ABC News tweet with a quote from Trump using the word "marshaling" and other news articles that contain QAnon hints to followers who believe the elaborate QAnon story of a cabal of blood-drinking elites working for global dominion, against whom Trump is the last hope.
There is a screen grab of "U.S. Marshals" trending on Twitter on October 14, 2021, which does not prove a connection that the secret deputizations occurred.
An article from 2020 with the headline, "Trump administration deputized hundreds of federal officers during crackdown on protesters," is based on the Trump administration deploying federal troops to select cities around the nation following the murder of George Floyd and the subsequent protests, as national news outlets reported at the time.. This article does not prove that Trump deputized 50,000 troops in secret.
None of the social media posts or article screen grabs provide any evidence of Trump being in charge of 50,000 troops, or deputizing them into the U.S. Marshals. Lead stories has reached out to the Pentagon for comment and will update the story when a response is received.
