Trump to send National Guard to Chicago, New York next

US President Donald Trump announced Friday that his administration is preparing to expand its federal crackdown on crime and public disorder to Chicago and New York, following the deployment of armed National Guard troops in Washington, D.C.

“When ready, we will start in Chicago … Chicago is a mess,” Trump said during a briefing in the Oval Office. He added that the administration “will help with New York,” signaling an intensified focus on major Democratic-led cities.

The move comes after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered that National Guard members patrolling D.C. under federal control will now carry weapons. “At the direction of the secretary of defense, [Joint Task Force] JTF-DC members supporting the mission to lower the crime rate in our nation’s capital will soon be on mission with their service-issued weapons, consistent with their mission and training,” a Pentagon official told CNN.

Nearly 2,000 National Guard troops are currently stationed in the capital, and additional forces from Republican-led states arrived earlier this week to bolster the federal presence. Until now, these troops were unarmed, and the sudden decision to issue weapons marks a significant escalation in the administration’s involvement in local law enforcement.

Trump has exercised federal authority over the D.C. police department, citing a “crime and homelessness crisis” in the city, despite objections from local officials. While state governors typically control the National Guard within their jurisdictions, the federal government can assume command under national emergency powers, a move Trump previously took in California this summer, sending troops to Los Angeles to counter protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The administration’s push also includes prosecutorial directives. US Attorney Jeanine Pirro, D.C.’s top federal prosecutor, has instructed her office to pursue the most serious charges possible in arrests made under the federal intervention, limiting line prosecutors’ discretion.

“In line with President Trump’s directive to make DC safe, US attorney Pirro has made it clear that the old way of doing things is unacceptable,” spokesman Tim Lauer said. “She directed her staff to charge the highest crime that is supported by the law and the evidence.”

Pirro, a former Fox News host, has been a leading figure in the administration’s law enforcement strategy, advocating tougher charges for most cases while also easing enforcement of local gun laws on rifles and shotguns.

As Trump signals plans to target other Democratic-run cities such as Baltimore, Oakland, and Los Angeles, local officials have pushed back. Maryland Governor Wes Moore told CNN that crime in Baltimore was already declining due to community programs and rejected the notion of deploying the national guard “for theatrics.” Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott criticized the move as singling out Black-led cities, and Moore noted that these are “places [Trump] has never been, streets he has never walked.”

The administration reports more than 630 arrests in Washington, though comparisons with typical city police activity remain unclear. The expansion of armed federal troops and stricter prosecutorial measures underscore the Trump administration’s aggressive approach to urban law enforcement, a strategy that is raising significant political and legal questions.