Donald Trump made crime a centerpiece of his 2024 presidential campaign. But he has surprised even himself, he said at an Oct. 15 press conference, with the intensity of federal efforts he has directed at cities, in what he says is an effort to fight crime, most controversially by sending military troops into cities such as Portland and Chicago, over the objection of local elected officials.
“I didn’t realize I was going to make this such a big factor,” Trump said. “And now it’s like a passion for me. … I did get elected for crime, but I didn’t get elected for what we’re doing. This is many, many steps above.”
Trump had said for weeks that he would send National Guard troops to Chicago, wrongly claiming on social media that the city is the “MURDER CAPITAL OF THE WORLD.” As we’ve written, the city has a high number of murders among U.S. cities, but not the highest murder rate in the U.S., let alone the world. The homicide rate has been declining this year, mirroring the general trend among U.S. cities.
On Sept. 28, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth issued a memo mobilizing 200 Oregon National Guard troops for 60 days. And on Oct. 4, Hegseth federalized 300 Illinois National Guard members and later deployed more than 200 members of the Texas National Guard in Chicago. Mayors in both cities and the state governors have opposed the deployments, accusing the president of exacerbating conflict. Their lawyers have called the administration’s claims of a crisis “manufactured” and “wildly hyperbolic.” Courts have since temporarily delayed deployment of federal troops in both cities.
