Trump doubles down on threat to veto military bill over Section 230

Termination must be put in [the] Defense Bill,” Trump tweeted

Donald Trump has doubled down on a threat to veto an annual military spending and policy bill, and attacked Republican lawmakers who have resisted his calls to repeal social media protections known as Section 230.

The US president had said on Tuesday he would veto the annual National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, because lawmakers had not included wording that would repeal Section 230, which provides social media companies with legal protection.  

The law, unrelated to the annual military bill, has also been alleged to have allowed companies such as Twitter and Facebook to censor conservative social media users, although that is disputed.

Republicans in Congress, however, have appeared unenthusiastic about backing Mr Trump’s demands, with Senator Jim Ihofe saying while he agreed with Mr Trump on Section 230, the provision “has nothing to do with the military.”

And on Wednesday, Congressional aides said the latest version of the NDAA did not include wording on Section 230, as demanded by Mr Trump.

“Looks like certain Republican Senators are getting cold feet with respect to the termination of Big Tech’s Section 230, a National Security and Election Integrity MUST,” wrote Mr Trump on Thursday.

“For years, all talk, no action. Termination must be put in [the] Defense Bill,” he added.  

The NDAA, which Congress usually sees as a “must pass” bill because it decides service members’ pay, as well as the US military budget, has been approved by both sides of Congress every year, for almost sixty years.

Republican representative Adam Kinzinger wrote on Twitter on Wednesday he would vote to override any presidential veto, “Because it's really not about you," he said about the president.

Democrats such as Steny Hoyer have, at the same time, described Mr Trump’s threats as "shameless and indefensible".