Some National Guard troops in the nation’s capital are now authorized to carry weapons. The president says their presence has led to a big drop in crime. Now, he’s considering deploying the National Guard to Chicago, New York, and Baltimore, but Democrats are calling it unconstitutional.
The Pentagon has reportedly been planning a National Guard deployment in Chicago for weeks, as President Trump seeks to take his crackdown on crime, homelessness, and illegal immigration to more cities.
Several thousand Guard troops could be mobilized by September, according to The Washington Post.
“Chicago’s a mess. You have an incompetent mayor, grossly incompetent,” President Trump said. “I think Chicago will be our next, and then we’ll help with New York.”
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker pushed back against the president’s claims about crime, accusing him of trying to divert attention away from the economic impact of tariffs, saying, “There is no emergency that warrants the President of the United States federalizing the Illinois National Guard. Donald Trump is attempting to manufacture a crisis.”
Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel says he does not believe it’s about crime. “My guess is, when you look at what he did in D.C., he’s not going to actually deal with crime,” he said. “This is an attempt to deal with cities that are welcoming cities, known as sanctuary cities, and deal with immigration.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries says Trump has no authority to deploy troops to Chicago without being asked by the Governor. “There’s been no request from the state of Illinois, no request at all for federal assistance,” he said.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore said, “It’s unconstitutional. It’s a direct violation of the 10th Amendment.”
He accuses the president of being hypocritical for blaming mayors for high crime.
“If you look at the president’s budget, it actually cuts funding towards violence intervention groups. It cuts funding towards the bureaus of the FBI and the ATF that are supporting local jurisdictions like Baltimore,” Moore said.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump suggested he could withhold funds to repair Baltimore’s damaged Francis Scott Key Bridge, writing, “I gave Wes Moore a lot of money to fix his demolished bridge. I will now have to rethink that decision???”
While the Constitution forbids the military to perform law enforcement duties, the president can get around it by invoking the Insurrection Act, which allows him to deploy active duty troops over a governor’s objections to enforce the law.
