Donald Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, giving him sweeping presidential powers over the deployment of the military in the US.

"Well, it's been invoked before," he said, when speaking to reporters this week.

He repeatedly suggested he might invoke it during his first term - but never did.

What is the Insurrection Act?

It gives the president the power to deploy the military or federalise National Guard troops inside the US to tackle domestic uprisings.

It can be invoked when there are "unlawful obstructions, combinations or assemblages or rebellion" against the authority of the US government, the statute states.

The law gives the president the power to use the armed forces to enforce the laws of the United States in any state and to take action "to enforce those la

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