“Martial law = Fake News,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “Just more knowingly bad reporting!”
Cable news outlets seized on the Times report that the president discussed imposing martial law and deploying the military to rerun the election, a proposal that Flynn discussed on Newsmax.
White House counsel, Pat A. Cipollone, and White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows reportedly pushed back against the ideas.
Many of Trump’s former and informal advisors raised their concerns in the reported meeting but it remains unclear what the president is prepared to do.
A senior administration official spoke to Axios about the details of the meeting, citing deep concerns about the advice that Trump was getting.
“People who are concerned and nervous aren’t the weak-kneed bureaucrats that we loathe,” the official said. “These are people who have endured arguably more insanity and mayhem than any administration officials in history.”
