On Jan. 15, 2026, President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that he would consider invoking the Insurrection Act in response to ongoing demonstrations in Minnesota opposing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activities. Trump’s statement followed a surge of protests spurred by recent incidents, including the fatal shooting of a woman and the wounding of a man by ICE agents during what officials described as the “largest immigration operation ever” in the area, both under investigation.

While earlier uses of the Insurrection Act — such as those by Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy — were primarily aimed at enforcing civil rights against state opposition, Trump’s justification focuses on supporting federal immigration enforcement amid protests, a context critics argue is more about clashes over tactics than outright insurrection. The current situation echoes Trump’s 2020 threats to use the Act during Black Lives Matter protests, though he ultimately refrained from doing so.

The President asserted that invoking the Act has a historical precedent, claiming that “many Presidents have done [it] before me,” although historical records indicate that it has been used approximately 30 times by about 17 presidents. Trump’s potential invocation would mark the first since President George H.W. Bush deployed troops during the 1992 Los Angeles riots, which erupted following the acquittal of officers involved in the beating of Rodney King.

Legally, the Insurrection Act allows the president to deploy military forces if domestic unrest impedes the execution of federal law. However, such a move would require overruling state authorities, including figures like Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who have called for ICE to withdraw, citing unsustainable tensions. The debate over the Act’s scope continues, with some critics warning that its use in Minnesota could represent federal overreach into state matters, potentially escalating conflict by federalizing the National Guard or deploying active-duty military personnel.

Trump accused Minnesota’s leaders of failing to enforce the law and referred to the demonstrators as “professional agitators and insurrectionists” who were attacking “the Patriots of I.C.E.,” insisting ICE was merely carrying out its duties. He warned, “If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT.”

Historic Summary

George Washington

• Era/Period: Founding Era
• Years: 1794
• Situation/Context: Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania, where farmers protested against a federal excise tax on whiskey.
• Key Details: The president called forth state militias to suppress the rebellion; it dispersed without major conflict, marking the first use of federal authority under the Calling Forth Act of 1792, a precursor to the Insurrection Act.

John Adams

• Era/Period: Founding Era
• Years: 1799
• Situation/Context: Fries’s Rebellion in eastern Pennsylvania, an armed tax revolt against federal property taxes imposed to fund a potential war with France.
• Key Details: Federal troops and militias were deployed to quell the uprising; leaders were arrested and tried for treason, though later pardoned.

Thomas Jefferson

• Era/Period: Jeffersonian Era
• Years: 1808
• Situation/Context: Violations of the Embargo Act of 1807 around Lake Champlain, where merchants defied trade restrictions with Britain and Canada.
• Key Details: Troops were used to enforce the embargo; violations continued, leading to the act’s repeal in 1809.

Andrew Jackson

• Era/Period: Jacksonian Era
• Years: 1831 (Arkansas-Mexico border)
• Situation/Context: Border dispute along the Arkansas-Mexico boundary involving territorial claims and potential violence.
• Key Details: Resolved before troops were sent.
• Years: 1831 (Southampton County, Virginia)
• Situation/Context: Nat Turner’s slave rebellion, an uprising of enslaved people seeking freedom.
• Key Details: Rebellion was suppressed by federal and state forces.
• Years: 1834 (Maryland)
• Situation/Context: Labor dispute leading to riots among workers on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.
• Key Details: Resolved before troops were sent.

Abraham Lincoln

• Era/Period: Civil War
• Years: 1861
• Situation/Context: Secession of southern states and the outbreak of the American Civil War.
• Key Details: Federal troops were called to suppress the rebellion; this led to four years of war and the beginning of Reconstruction.

Ulysses S. Grant

• Era/Period: Reconstruction
• Years: 1871
• Situation/Context: White supremacist insurgency, including Ku Klux Klan violence across the former Confederacy.
• Key Details: Insurgency was suppressed through the enforcement of civil rights laws.
• Years: 1873 (Louisiana)
• Situation/Context: Violence following a contested election, including the Colfax Massacre.
• Key Details: Resolved before troops were sent.
• Years: 1874 (Vicksburg, Mississippi)
• Situation/Context: White supremacist insurrection and massacre against Black residents and officials.
• Key Details: Insurrection was suppressed.
• Years: 1874 (Arkansas)
• Situation/Context: A white supremacist attempted coup known as the Brooks-Baxter War.
• Key Details: Resolved before troops were sent.
• Years: 1874 (Louisiana)
• Situation/Context: White supremacist insurgency and coup attempt, including the Battle of Liberty Place.
• Key Details: New Orleans and the state government were liberated; insurgency continued elsewhere until 1877.
• Years: 1876 (South Carolina)
• Situation/Context: White supremacist paramilitary activities during a contested election.
• Key Details: Paramilitaries were dispersed; troops remained until 1877.

Rutherford B. Hayes

• Era/Period: Reconstruction/Gilded Age
• Years: 1877
• Situation/Context: Great Railroad Strike of 1877 across multiple states, involving labor unrest and violence.
• Key Details: Strike was suppressed, leading to eventual labor reforms.
• Years: 1878 (Lincoln County, New Mexico)
• Situation/Context: Lincoln County War between rival business and gang factions.
• Key Details: Most fighting stopped after the intervention.

Chester A. Arthur

• Era/Period: Gilded Age
• Years: 1882
• Situation/Context: Gang violence in the Arizona Territory.
• Key Details: Gangs were suppressed.

Grover Cleveland

• Era/Period: Gilded Age
• Years: 1885-1886
• Situation/Context: Anti-Chinese riots in Washington Territory, including the Tacoma and Seattle riots.
• Key Details: Riots were suppressed.
• Years: 1894
• Situation/Context: Pullman Strike across multiple states, a major labor dispute disrupting rail traffic.
• Key Details: Strike was suppressed, leading to eventual reforms.

Woodrow Wilson

• Era/Period: Progressive Era
• Years: 1914
• Situation/Context: Colorado Coalfield War, a strike and uprising by coal miners.
• Key Details: Strike and uprising were suppressed, leading to labor reforms.

Warren G. Harding

• Era/Period: Roaring Twenties
• Years: 1921
• Situation/Context: Battle of Blair Mountain in West Virginia, a coal miners’ strike and armed uprising.
• Key Details: Strike and uprising were suppressed, contributing to later reforms.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

• Era/Period: World War II
• Years: 1943
• Situation/Context: 1943 Detroit race riot amid wartime tensions and migration.
• Key Details: Riot was suppressed.

Dwight D. Eisenhower

• Era/Period: Civil Rights Era
• Years: 1957
• Situation/Context: Resistance to school desegregation in Little Rock, Arkansas, involving the Little Rock Nine.
• Key Details: The Arkansas National Guard was federalized and ordered to stand down; federal troops escorted Black students to school.

John F. Kennedy

• Era/Period: Civil Rights Era
• Years: 1962
• Situation/Context: Ole Miss riot at the University of Mississippi over racial integration.
• Key Details: Riot was suppressed.
• Years: 1963 (June)
• Situation/Context: Stand in the Schoolhouse Door in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where the governor blocked Black students from enrolling.
• Key Details: Alabama National Guard was federalized and ordered to stand down; federal troops escorted students.
• Years: 1963 (September)
• Situation/Context: Resistance to desegregation of all-white schools in Alabama.
• Key Details: Alabama National Guard was federalized and ordered to stand down.

Lyndon B. Johnson

• Era/Period: Civil Rights Era
• Years: 1965
• Situation/Context: Suppression of the Selma to Montgomery marches by Alabama police.
• Key Details: Alabama National Guard was federalized before the third march to provide protection.
• Years: 1967
• Situation/Context: 1967 Detroit riot amid racial tensions and police brutality.
• Key Details: Riots were suppressed.
• Years: 1968
• Situation/Context: Nationwide riots following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
• Key Details: Riots were suppressed in multiple states.

Ronald Reagan

• Era/Period: Late Cold War
• Years: 1987
• Situation/Context: Atlanta prison riots over deportations of Cuban detainees.
• Key Details: Riot was suppressed.

George H. W. Bush

• Era/Period: Post-Cold War
• Years: 1989
• Situation/Context: Looting in the United States Virgin Islands following Hurricane Hugo.
• Key Details: Order was restored.
• Years: 1992
• Situation/Context: 1992 Los Angeles riots after the acquittal of police officers in the Rodney King beating.
• Key Details: Riots were suppressed; this is the most recent invocation.

AI was used to compile the facts of this article.