U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro said Sunday that President Trump is making life safer for residents in the District.
Ms. Pirro said the surge of National Guard troops has led to more than 1,500 arrests and the seizure of more than 150 guns.
“They talk about the shining city on the hill, well, this city on a hill is upside down, and President Trump is doing everything he can to reorient it to be that shining city on the hill,” she said on “Fox News Sunday.”
Mr. Trump declared a crime emergency in the District almost three weeks ago.
The effort has won some praise from Mayor Muriel Bowzer, who says the surge of federal law enforcement has reduced carjackings, gun crimes, and homicides.
However, the effort has frustrated city residents and been criticized as heavy-handed and not focused enough on the city’s most crime-ridden areas.
Some Democrats have argued that the federal government would be better off boosting the financial support for local law enforcement than flooding the streets with federal troops.
The effort in the District followed Mr. Trump’s deployment of the California National Guard to Los Angeles in response to protests against immigration enforcement efforts.
Mr. Trump is now suggesting he could deploy National Guard troops to other cities, including Chicago.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, has said that would amount to an “invasion” of Chicago, and that Mr. Trump has “other aims”
Ms. Pirro said the response is emblematic of Trump derangement syndrome.
“If President Trump didn’t do this, Washington would continue to be one of the most violent cities in the world, and anyone who is against it is about politics and not safety for our fellow citizens,” she said.
“Washington was one of the most violent cities, not just in the United States, but in the world,” she said. “So let’s not pussyfoot around this whole thing.”
