What does martial law look like in the U.S.?

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol briefly declared martial law Tuesday amid alleged “anti-state” forces that he claimed were plotting rebellion and supporting North Korea, despite offering no evidence. 

But roughly six hours after Yoon called martial law and armed forces flooded the streets, the National Assembly voted to end the declaration. Yoon soon faced calls to resign or be impeached. However, an impeachment vote on Saturday failed due to a boycott from Yoon’s party, which was “apparently more concerned about a return to progressive leadership than about Yoon’s actions,” according to The Washington Post. But that seems to have only intensified protests, and the national police have opened an investigation into Yoon for treason. 

As the drama continues to unfurl, many Americans are now looking warily toward President-elect Donald Trump, trying to understand how something like this might play out in the states. 

Trump has a long history of admiring authoritarians. And in 2020, he deployed the National Guard to break up protestors in Washington, D.C., and Portland, Oregon, during protests over a police officer’s murder of George Floyd. But while controversial, that wasn’t martial law. 

However, Trump also reportedly asked about shooting those protestors but was stopped by skeptics in his administration. Which there will be fewer of this time around. And this year, he openly discussed the idea of deploying the military against “the enemy from within.”

A law expert who wished to remain anonymous told Daily Kos that while there is a small possibility that today's conservative-led Supreme Court would support the precedent of Trump declaring martial law, present concerns are “likely overblown.”

Still, ahead of Trump’s second administration, Daily Kos is taking a look at what martial law might look like—and has looked like—in the U.S.