President Donald Trump on Monday ordered the National Guard in each state to create a quick-response force to quell protests and deter crime after using troops to assist with security during immigration protests in Los Angeles and patrol in Washington, D.C., as part of a crackdown on crime.
He said other cities, specifically Chicago, should be asking him for help.
“I think we should really let them have their city, let their city go to hell” and then they will ask us for help, Trump told reporters at the White House during a news conference announcing several executive orders.
“These people [troops and federal law enforcement], eventually, they’re going to have to be appreciated for what they are doing, and they’re going to have to be appreciated by the officials that are really happy when we go in because they’ve lost control of their place,” he said.
The executive order about the National Guard signed Monday calls on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to oversee “each state’s Army National Guard and Air National Guard are resourced, trained, organized and available to assist federal, state and local law enforcement in quelling civil disturbances and ensuring the public safety and order whenever the circumstances necessitate, as appropriate under law.”
Each state should find an appropriate number of troops to be reasonably available for rapid mobilization and have the resources and training needed to serve nationwide, according to the order titled, “Additional Measures to Address the Crime Emergency in the District of Columbia.”
More than a week ago, Trump deployed 2,000 troops from the D.C. National Guard and six supporting states onto the streets of the nation’s capital to stop what he has referred to as an emergency crime wave. However, D.C. police data stated violent crime is down in the city by 26% compared with last year — which had the lowest levels of violent crimes in 30 years.
Since Guard troops have been on patrol in Washington, there have been no killings in the city, Trump said.
Post too long. Click here to view the full text.