Trump’s actions raise concern about role in military justice

Yeah, many would much rather go back to Mr Obama's pardoning of major criminals...

Despite miss use of a veterans charity funds, he wants to look good and win a victory.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/22/us/navy-seals-trump-edward-gallagher.html

This week, Mr. Trump said he would reverse the decision of the commander of the Navy SEALs to remove a convicted sailor from its ranks. That reversal might not happen after pushback from top military officials, but its threat prompted many to ask what the limits are on the president’s authority to intervene in the military.

Military scholars say they are few.

He could, hypothetically, also order all the Air Force’s jets painted pink, appoint his chauffeur to an elite commando force or require all officers to wear long, red ties on Fridays.

“The president’s power is very broad; he can micromanage in nearly anything in the military, no matter how trivial,” said Eugene Fidell, who teaches military law at Yale Law School.

To be sure, presidents have sometimes involved themselves in the minutiae of making war. President Lyndon B. Johnson, for example, personally approved targets for B-52 bombing runs in Operation Rolling Thunder, during the Vietnam War.

But by and large presidents have steered clear of retail personnel actions like the decision to bestow or remove the Trident pin, so the question of whether it is legal has rarely been asked.