Who did Trump threaten to sue if he becomes president again?

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has vowed to investigate or prosecute political rivals, election workers and left-wing Americans if he becomes president again.

Democratic candidate Kamala Harris said Trump would seek excessive and uncontrolled powers if he wins Tuesday’s presidential election.

‘THE ENEMY WITHIN’

When asked on Fox News last month whether he expected chaos on Election Day, Trump said the bigger problem was “the enemy within.”

“We have some sick people, radical left lunatics… and that should be handled very easily by the National Guard if necessary or by the military if it really is necessary.”

Trump, of course, will not have the authority to call on the military on Election Day, but his comments alarmed critics who suggested he viewed the armed forces as a potential weapon against his opponents if he returned to the White House.

Trump repeated the term “enemy within” in an interview with popular podcaster Joe Rogan, saying they were more worrisome than Kim Jong Un, the leader of nuclear-armed North Korea.

POLITICAL ENEMIES

Trump has called for investigations of Harris, President Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama and former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, one of the most high-profile Republicans to oppose Trump.

At a rally in Pennsylvania in September, Trump said Vice President Harris was responsible for “the greatest crime story of our time,” citing illegal border crossings. “He should be impeached and tried for his actions,” Trump said.

Trump also shared posts on the Truth Social media platform calling for Cheney and Obama to be tried in military courts.

ELECTION WORKERS

On October 25, Trump threatened an unprecedented level of prosecution against a number of people on Tuesday for potentially cheating.

“Please note that this legal exposure includes Lawyers, Political Operators, Donors, Illegal Voters, and Corrupt Election Officials,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“Those who engage in unscrupulous behavior will be hunted down, caught and, unfortunately, prosecuted to levels never seen before in our country,” he added.

Trump and his allies are laying the groundwork to fight a potential loss in November by fueling doubts about the legitimacy of the election. Trump portrayed Democrats as cheaters, said mail-in ballots were fraudulent, and urged his supporters to vote in such large numbers to make the election “too big to be rigged.”

Trump has said he was the victim of widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential election, although courts, state governments and members of his former administration have rejected his claims.

PROTESTERS

Following pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses across the United States this year, Trump told Fox News in July that anyone who disrespects the American flag should receive a one-year prison sentence.

“Now people will say: ‘Oh, that’s unconstitutional.’ “Those who say that are stupid people,” Trump said, adding that he wants to work with Congress to allow prison sentences.

Trump also said he would ban the resettlement of refugees in “terror-ridden” areas such as Gaza and arrest “pro-Hamas thugs” who engage in vandalism, an apparent reference to college student protesters.

TECHNOLOGY SECTOR

Trump also warned Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google about alleged potential election interference on their tech platforms.

Trump accused Meta of hiding content that would harm Biden in the 2020 election and also criticized Zuckerberg’s donations to support election infrastructure.

According to comments reported in the media, Trump wrote in the recently published coffee table book Save America: “We are watching him closely, and if he does anything illegal this time, he will spend the rest of his life in prison.”

Zuckerberg did not publicly respond to Trump’s threat and did not endorse a presidential candidate, but he did say Trump’s response to the July 13 assassination attempt was “one of the most troublesome things I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Trump threatened to order the Department of Justice to criminally investigate Google for “solely exposing and showcasing bad stories about Donald J. Trump,” according to a post on Truth Social last month.

“When I win the election, I will demand their prosecution to the fullest extent,” Trump wrote. He provided no evidence for his claim about Google.

Google did not respond to requests for comment on Trump’s statement.

PROSECUTORS

Trump and his allies have called for prosecutors who oppose or investigate him to be prosecuted, dismissed or jailed.

In an interview with Time in April, Trump said he would be open to removing U.S. Attorneys General if they refused his orders to prosecute someone. “It will depend on the situation,” Trump said.

Trump also said earlier this month that, if elected, he would fire Jack Smith, the federal prosecutor who spearheaded criminal investigations into his attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat and allegations of mishandling of classified documents after he left office.

This followed Trump’s speech in April 2023; After Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg persuaded a New York grand jury to file the first criminal indictment against a former U.S. president, whom Bragg said was “guilty.”

“He should be tried or at least resign,” Trump said. Trump ally Steve Bannon, an influential voice in Trump’s Make America Great Again movement, said Bragg should be jailed.