Trump eyes sending military to other Democrat-led cities
WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump on Sunday threatened to expand his military deployments to more Democratic-led cities, responding to an offer by Maryland’s governor to join him in a tour of Baltimore by saying he might instead “send in the ‘troops.’”
His latest pledge to ramp up the military’s presence in left-leaning cities came as at least some National Guard units in the nation’s capital began carrying weapons over the weekend, making good on a directive issued on Friday by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. An Associated Press (AP) photographer on Sunday saw members of the South Carolina National Guard outside Union Station with holstered handguns.
The most recent developments in Trump’s extraordinary effort to override the law enforcement authority of state and local governments came after he said he was considering Chicago and New York for troop deployments similar to what he has unleashed on the nation’s capital.
Thousands of National Guard and federal law enforcement officers are now patrolling the district’s streets, drawing sporadic protests from local residents.
Spat
Trump made the threat to Baltimore in a spat with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat who has criticized Trump’s unprecedented flex of federal power aimed at combating crime and homelessness in Washington.
Moore last week invited Trump to visit his state to discuss public safety and walk the streets.
In a Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump said Moore asked “in a rather nasty and provocative tone,” and then raised the specter of repeating the National Guard deployment he made in Los Angeles over the objections of California’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom.
“Wes Moore’s record on Crime is a very bad one, unless he fudges his figures on crime like many of the other ‘Blue States’ are doing,” Trump wrote, as he cited a pejorative nickname he uses frequently for the California governor. “But if Wes Moore needs help, like Gavin Newscum did in L.A., I will send in the ‘troops,’ which is being done in nearby DC, and quickly clean up the Crime.”
Moore said he invited Trump to Maryland “because he seems to enjoy living in this blissful ignorance” about improving crime rates in Baltimore.
Falling crime
After a spike during the pandemic that matched nationwide trends, Baltimore’s violent crime rate has fallen. The 200 homicides reported last year were down 24 percent from the prior year and 42 percent since 2021, according to city data. Between 2023 and 2024, overall violent crime was down nearly 8 percent and property crimes down 20 percent.
“The president is spending all of his time talking about me,” Moore said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “I’m spending my time talking about the people I serve.”
Trump is “spouting off a bunch of lies about public safety in Maryland,” Moore said in a fundraising email.
In Washington, where Trump is surging National Guard troops and federal law enforcement officers, a patchwork of protests popped up throughout the city over the weekend, while some normally bustling corners were noticeably quiet. In some of the most populated areas, residents walked by small groups of national guardsmen, often talking among themselves. Videos of arrests and detainments circulated on social media.
Trump has said Chicago and New York are most likely his next targets, eliciting strong pushback from Democratic leaders in both states.
The Washington Post reported Saturday that the Pentagon has spent weeks preparing for an operation in Chicago.
