President Donald Trump has hinted at expanding his domestic troops deployment to other Democrat-led cities in the United States, starting with Chicago, Illinois.
Trump’s warning came shortly after the Department of Defense confirmed that National Guard troops currently patrolling Washington, DC, will now be armed. The decision was made directly by Trump’s defense secretary, Pete Hegseth.
“Members supporting the mission to lower the crime rate in our Nation’s capital will soon be on mission with their service-issued weapons, consistent with their mission and training,” the Pentagon stated.
Trump had called up the National Guard on August 11 to address crime in Washington, DC, despite nonpartisan data showing violent crime in the city is at a 30-year low.
Trump specifically targeted Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser, warning that she could lose her democratically elected post if she doesn’t “get her act straight.” “I’m tired of listening to these people say how safe it was before we got here,” Trump said. “It was unsafe. It was horrible. And Mayor Bowser had better get her act straight, or she won’t be mayor very long because we’ll take it over with the federal government and run it like it’s supposed to be run.”
Critics have expressed concern that such a move would further disenfranchise the voters of Washington, DC, and legal experts warn that Trump may run afoul of the law if he attempts to seize control of the city.
The federal government already wields significant power over the affairs of the capital, but under the Home Rule Act of 1973, a local government was set up to manage the city’s day-to-day policies.
Trump has advanced the idea that he will continue to deploy the National Guard to other parts of the country to combat crime. “After we do this, we’ll go to another location, and we’ll make it safe also. We’re going to make our country very safe. We’re going to make our cities very, very safe,” Trump said, before turning his attention to Chicago.
“Chicago’s a mess. You have an incompetent mayor. Grossly incompetent. And we’ll straighten that one out probably next. That’ll be our next one after this. And it won’t even be tough.”
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson responded to the idea, saying, “if President Trump wants to help make Chicago safer, he can start by releasing the funds for anti-violence programs that have been critical to our work to drive down crime and violence.”
Johnson added that sending in the National Guard would only serve to destabilize the city and undermine public safety efforts.
Any proposed efforts to deploy the National Guard to other cities would likely face challenges under the Posse Comitatus Act, which bars the use of the country’s military for domestic law enforcement.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta cited this act when explaining the state’s case against the Trump administration’s deployment of National Guard troops to Los Angeles.
“Two months ago, the federal government deployed military troops to the streets of Los Angeles for the purposes of political theater and public intimidation,” Bonta said. “This dangerous move has no precedent in American history.”
As Trump faces the end of the 30-day window for his control of the Washington, DC, police force, he has indicated that he might try to circumvent the deadline by declaring the capital’s crime a “national emergency.” “I don’t know if there is a deadline because if I declare a national emergency, which this was, that ends the deadline,” Trump said. He also hinted that he considered calling up other branches of the military.