President Trump on Tuesday vowed a sweeping expansion of his plan to use the National Guard to combat crime and unrest in major U.S. cities.
“It’s been an amazing thing,” Mr. Trump said of the National Guard deployment. “And we’ll do it in every city. We’ll do it sort of one at a time. We’ll do a couple at a time. And we have a tremendous force because, as you know, our recruitment numbers.”
Mr. Trump did not identify the cities where he might dispatch the National Guard, but in the past, he called Baltimore, Seattle and New Orleans potential places to ramp up enforcement.
New Orleans, in a GOP state dominated by House Speaker Mike Johnson and Gov. Jeff Landry, is likelier than other spots run by Democratic mayors and governors who have vehemently opposed the use of the National Guard.
Earlier this year, Mr. Trump dispatched troops to Los Angeles to quell the protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. He later ordered troops into Washington to battle the city’s crime.
The president has expanded the use of troops by sending them to Memphis, Tennessee, and Portland, Oregon.
He’s also preparing to send 100 guardsmen to Chicago, according to Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, citing a request from the Department of Homeland Security to the Pentagon. Mr. Pritzker has long opposed the use of troops in the city.
On Tuesday. Mr. Trump complained that Mr. Pritzker should be grateful for the National Guard, citing Chicago’s soaring crime statistics.
“He should call me and say, ‘Get the troops in here,’” Mr. Trump said.
In the District of Columbia, where Mr. Trump has more authority over law enforcement, more than 2,200 guardsmen were deployed last month to address crime. He also federalized the city’s police force.
