(The Hill) — President Donald Trump early Tuesday threatened to send more troops to cities amid his crackdown on crime, telling U.S. service members in Japan that some may need “more than the National Guard.”
“We have cities in trouble. We can’t have cities that have trouble,” Trump said, speaking to troops on the USS George Washington at the Yokosuka Naval Base. “We’re sending in the National Guard, and we need more than the National Guard.”
“We’ll send more than the National Guard because we’re going to have safe cities,” he continued. “We’re not going to have people killed in our cities. And whether people like that or not, that’s what we’re doing.”
Trump has deployed the National Guard to a number of big cities, including Los Angeles; Washington, D.C.; Memphis, Tennessee; Chicago, and Portland, Oregon, this year alone.
The administration has argued that the troops are needed to combat crime and enforce immigration law.
But the president’s move to deploy the National Guard has been met with political and legal resistance. Trump’s critics note that the administration has deployed troops to cities with Democratic mayors, most of which are located in blue states.
The administration saw a legal victory last week in its efforts to deploy National Guard troops to Portland, when a federal appeals court said Trump could deploy troops across Oregon for now.
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