US President Donald Trump announced that he would consider deploying the National Guard to other major cities such as Chicago and New York, following Los Angeles (LA) and the capital, Washington, DC.
President Donald Trump of the United States (right) and Vice President JD Vance are talking in the Oval Office of the White House on the 22nd (local time). Photo by EPA Yonhap News
According to US media outlets such as Politico and Bloomberg, President Trump told reporters on the 22nd (local time), "I will make the cities very safe," adding, "Chicago is a mess and the mayor is very incompetent. Maybe next, I will fix that place. It's not even a difficult task." He also mentioned New York, in addition to Chicago, as a place that might need the assistance of the National Guard.
Both Chicago and New York, which President Trump mentioned, currently have Democratic mayors. President Trump has repeatedly criticized the public safety and administration of these two cities.
President Trump said that the National Guard deployed in Washington, DC, "is doing a great job working with the police," and added, "After this, we will go to other areas and make them safe as well."
The National Guard in the United States is a military force maintained by each state government or by self-governing entities with administrative status equivalent to a state, like Washington, DC. In emergencies, the federal government can take command, but US federal law strictly limits the use of the military for civilian law enforcement except in cases specified by the Constitution or federal law.
Previously, in June, President Trump deployed a large number of National Guard troops in response to protests against illegal immigration crackdowns in LA. This was the first instance since 1965 in which a US president exercised command over the National Guard without the consent of a state governor.
Afterwards, the state of California filed a lawsuit against the federal government, and legal disputes are ongoing, with conflicting rulings in the first trial and the appeals court.
Following this, the Trump administration also deployed the National Guard to the capital, Washington, DC, and took control of the DC Police Department, continuing actions that infringe upon the autonomous law enforcement duties of local governments.
Regarding President Trump's remarks on this day, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson explained that he had not received any official notification from the federal government. He also warned, "This is an inappropriate measure that was neither discussed nor requested in advance," and stated, "Illegally deploying the National Guard to Chicago could escalate tensions between residents and law enforcement agencies."
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker also criticized, saying, "(President Trump) used LA and Washington, DC as testing grounds for authoritarian moves, and now he is openly revealing his intention to take control of other states and cities."
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