Trump accused some Democrats of ‘seditious behavior, punishable by death’ in post

Claim:

In November 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump made a Truth Social post referring to Democratic lawmakers that read, “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”

Rating:

Context

While the post in question did not explicitly mention congressional Democrats, Trump referenced them in a separate post roughly an hour earlier. That post read: “This is really bad, and Dangerous to our Country. Their words cannot be allowed to stand. SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR FROM TRAITORS!!! LOCK THEM UP???”

In November 2025, social media users claimed (archived here, here and here) that U.S. President Donald Trump accused some Democratic lawmakers of “seditious behavior” that was “punishable by death” in a post on his Truth Social platform.

One X user who shared (archived) the purported Truth Social post also claimed that Trump shared another user’s post stating: “HANG THEM GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD !!”

Multiple Snopes readers emailed us and searched our website to confirm whether Trump really made the post in question.

The claim was true. On Nov. 20, 2025, Trump made a post (archived) on Truth Social that read, in its entirety, “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”:

(@realDonaldTrump on Truth Social)

While that post did not explicitly mention congressional Democrats, Trump referenced them in a separate post roughly an hour earlier (archived), writing:

This is really bad, and Dangerous to our Country. Their words cannot be allowed to stand. SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR FROM TRAITORS!!! LOCK THEM UP??? President DJT

(@realDonaldTrump on Truth Social)

Trump’s posts responded to a Nov. 18 video shared on Facebook (archived) in which six Democratic members of Congress urged U.S. service members to defy unlawful orders. The video featured U.S. Reps. Jason Crow of Colorado, Chris Deluzio of Pennsylvania, Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, along with Sens. Mark Kelly of Arizona and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan.

In the video, the lawmakers addressed members of the military and intelligence communities, urging them to “refuse illegal orders.” One lawmaker stressed that service members “must” uphold this responsibility. 

“No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our Constitution,” the group said.

The lawmakers did not reference any specific orders that they deemed “illegal.” The video concluded with the lawmakers invoking the Navy’s historic rallying cry, “Don’t give up the ship.”

Earlier on Nov. 20, Trump referred to the lawmakers as “traitors to the country” and said they should “be arrested and put on trial” (archived). He also shared multiple posts that appeared to be directed at the members of Congress, including one (archived) that read: “HANG THEM GEORGE WASHINGTON WOULD !!”

(@realDonaldTrump on Truth Social)

White House, Democratic lawmakers respond

At a news conference the same day, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt denied that Trump wanted to “execute members of Congress” and criticized reporting on Trump’s response to the video:

Let’s be clear about what the president is responding to because many in this room want to talk about the president’s response, but not what brought the president to responding in this way. You have sitting members of the United States Congress who conspired together to orchestrate a video message to members of the United States military, to active-duty service members, to members of the national-security apparatus, encouraging them to defy the president’s lawful orders. The sanctity of our military rests on the chain of command. And if that chain of command is broken, it can lead to people getting killed. It can lead to chaos. And that’s what these members of Congress who swore an oath to abide by the Constitution are essentially encouraging.

The reporter later followed up, noting that both the president and Vice President JD Vance have accused their opponents of “encouraging political violence.” “Isn’t that exactly what the president is doing when he says that members of Congress should be killed?” she asked.

Leavitt pushed back, saying, “Why aren’t you talking about what these members of Congress are doing to encourage and incite violence? They are literally saying to 1.3 million active-duty service members to defy the chain of command, not to follow lawful orders.”

The reporter then pointed out that the lawmakers had said service members could refuse “illegal orders,” to which Leavitt replied: “They’re suggesting that the president has given illegal orders, which he has not. Every single order that is given to the United States military by this commander-in-chief and through this chain of command through the secretary of war is lawful.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson referred to the Democrats’ statements as “wildly inappropriate” in a video shared by CNN correspondent Manu Raju (archived)

Slotkin shared a statement (archived) on behalf of herself and the five other lawmakers, saying “no threat, intimidation or call for violence” would deter them from defending the Constitution. 

Their statement was as follows: 

We are veterans and national security professionals who love this country and swore an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. That oath lasts a lifetime, and we intend to keep it. No threat, intimidation, or call for violence will deter us from that sacred obligation. 

What’s most telling is that the President considers it punishable by death for us to restate the law. Our servicemembers should know that we have their backs as they fulfill their oath to the Constitution and obligation to follow only lawful orders. It is not only the right thing to do, but also our duty. 

But this isn’t about any one of us. This isn’t about politics. This is about who we are as Americans. Every American must unite and condemn the President’s calls for our murder and political violence. This is a time for moral clarity. 

In these moments, fear is contagious, but so is courage. We will continue to lead and will not be intimidated.

“Don’t Give Up the Ship!”

A joint statement from myself @SenMarkKelly, @RepJasonCrow, @RepDeluzio, @RepGoodlander and @RepHoulahan.

“We are veterans and national security professionals who love this country and swore an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. That oath lasts a…

— Sen. Elissa Slotkin (@SenatorSlotkin) November 20, 2025

House Democratic leadership condemned what it called Trump’s “disgusting and dangerous death threats” against the members of Congress. Whether Trump’s posts could be considered criminal threats would ultimately be up to law enforcement and the courts.

The Democratic leadership statement (archived), released by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Minority Whip Katherine Clark and Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, said the Democratic leaders had “been in contact with the House Sergeant at Arms and the United States Capitol Police” to ensure the lawmakers’ safety.

“Donald Trump must immediately delete these unhinged social media posts and recant his violent rhetoric before he gets someone killed,” the Democratic leaders added.

For further reading, we investigated a rumor that some Trump officials were moving to military bases for security reasons.