Before Deployments, Trump Says, He Wants to Be Asked

President Trump has floated the idea of sending federal troops to New Orleans, retreating from his statement the day before that Chicago would be the next US city to host a deployment whether it wants one or not. Speaking from the Oval Office on Wednesday, Trump suggested the reason is that Chicago officials oppose having federal troops in its streets, while Louisiana's governor welcomes the idea, Politico reports. Of the possibility of activating National Guard units to patrol cities run by Democrats, including Baltimore, Trump said, "We're pretty much waiting until we get asked."

Trump told reporters a decision hasn't been made. "We are making a determination now: Do we go to Chicago?" he said. "Or do we go to a place like New Orleans where we have a great governor, Jeff Landry, who wants us to come in and straighten out a very nice section of this country that has become quite—quite tough, quite bad?" Of New Orleans' crime, Trump said he could "straighten that out in about two weeks." Republican Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry quickly endorsed the idea, per NBC News, posting a video clip of Trump's remarks and declaring, "We will take President @realDonaldTrump's help from New Orleans to Shreveport!"

Trump made clear he wants Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, to request the help. "We could straighten out Chicago. All they have to do is ask us," Trump said, per USA Today. That's unlikely: Pritzker has ripped the deployments, and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has issued orders to resist such a force. Trump also has talked about sending forces into New York City and Baltimore, per NPR, which also have Democrats as their elected leaders. In those places, "the politicians are not in tune with the people," Trump said.