The National Guard in Washington, D.C., is now armed as it continues President Donald Trump’s directive to fight crime in the nation’s capital. But the question this week is where Trump’s plan to curb lawlessness will go next. He has mentioned New York, Chicago and, now, potentially Baltimore.
Over the weekend, Trump escalated his feud with Maryland’s Democratic Gov. Wes Moore.
“Governor Wes Moore of Maryland has asked, in a rather nasty and provocative tone, that I ‘walk the streets of Maryland’ with him,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “I assume he is talking about out of control, crime ridden, Baltimore? As President, I would much prefer that he clean up this Crime disaster before I go there for a ‘walk.’ 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.”
“I will send in the ‘troops,’ which is being done in nearby DC, and quickly clean up the Crime,” he added.
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Moore responded Sunday during an appearance on CNN.
“The last time the homicide rate was this low in Baltimore city, I wasn’t born yet,” he said. “… I will never activate members of our National Guard for theatrics.”
Trump’s threat to send the National Guard to Baltimore comes as troops continue to patrol Washington, where federal officials say crime has moderately dropped since his directive took effect. The president has also floated sending forces into other U.S. cities.
Last week, Trump said of Chicago: “Chicago’s a mess and we’ll straighten that one out, probably next.”
Over the weekend, The Washington Post reported that the Pentagon is helping draft plans to possibly deploy to Chicago soon. The Chicago Tribune reported Sunday that local and state leaders in Illinois, most of whom oppose Trump, met to discuss how they would respond, including Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul.
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“Turning the military against the American citizens and cities on American land is unprecedented and it’s unheard of,” Raoul said.
Under federal law, the president can deploy the National Guard in certain circumstances. Many Democrats, however, argue that threshold has not been met. Expanding deployments into other states could prove more difficult legally than in Washington, which is not a state.
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