According to Xinhua News Agency, Trump said on the 22nd local time that he is considering expanding the scope of the fight against violent crime to Chicago and New York, where Democrats are in power. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said he would take Trump's remarks seriously and had not received "formal notice" from the federal government.

According to statistics, this is not the first time Trump has targeted Chicago. As early as 2017, he compared Chicago with Afghanistan many times, claiming that the federal government would take over the city, citing frequent gun violence crimes in Chicago. Prior to this, Trump had sent the National Guard to Washington, D.C. and California. This practice of bypassing local governments and sending troops to take over local affairs by the federal government also caused controversy in the United States.

Targeting Democratic ruling big cities

Chicago Mayor: No official notification yet

In an interview with the media at the White House on the 22nd, Trump said that the capital Washington was becoming "one of the safest places in the world" after the federal government sent the National Guard. He said the National Guard would be sent elsewhere to make cities across the country safe. Trump also attacked Chicago's Democratic mayor Johnson for incompetence, saying that Chicago is a mess now, and claimed that some of his supporters in Chicago have been "calling us to go there".

The Trump Hotel in Chicago Image/Visual China

Trump said: "I got a good vote among African-American voters, you know, they want something to happen. So I think Chicago will be our next [target], and then we will help bring order to New York." CCTV News quoted US media as saying that Trump has repeatedly used words such as "dangerous" and "dirty" to describe the big cities run by Democrats and minorities in the United States, and identified them as rife with violent crime.

Trump's son Trump Jr. on the 21st identified Democrats as being associated with the "soaring" crime rate, saying it was time to consider many cities along the Pacific Coast of the Northwest United States. "Maybe we should go to Portland, Seattle and other garbage cities in the country."

Screen of Trump's speech

Trump also said he plans to ¡°total take over¡± Washington, D.C., rather than sending the National Guard to police work in charge ofining local security. Trump also posted on his ¡°truth social¡± platform to criticize Democratic mayor Bowser of Washington, saying Bowser must immediately stop publishing ¡°false and seriously inaccurate criminal data,¡± otherwise it would leave her ¡°unable to be the mayor for a few days.¡±

Chicago Mayor Johnson responded by saying that so far he has not received an official notice from the federal government on whether to send more law enforcement officers or troops to Chicago. Johnson said: "We are deeply concerned about the potential impact of any illegal deployment of the National Guard to Chicago". At present, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is carrying out a large-scale manhunt for illegal immigrants in Chicago, but the National Guard has not yet been dispatched.

Trump has twice circumvented the local government to send troops.

caused great controversy

Recently, Trump has twice used his presidential prerogatives to bypass local governments and directly send the National Guard to the place, which has triggered a huge controversy in the American public opinion field.

Trump signed a presidential memorandum on June 7 this year announcing the deployment of 2,000 National Guard members to Los Angeles in response to violent protests sparked by ICE raids. Los Angeles Latino communities clashed with law enforcement officers, protesters threw objects, and police used tear gas and shock grenades. Trump invoked Title 10 of the U.S. Armed Forces Code, Section 12406, to call the protests "some form of rebellion," bypassing the authority of California Governor Gavin Newsom and directly federalizing the National Guard.

The first 300 members of the National Guard arrived in Los Angeles in the early hours of June 8 and were deployed to protect federal agents and facilities, including outside the federal detention center downtown. The Marines in California were also on "high alert" and could intervene at any time, Defense Secretary Hegseth said.

Local time 20 August 2025, Washington, D.C., United Station outside, National Guard crew members on duty image/visual China

On the 11th of this month, Trump signed an executive order announcing that due to the "surge of violent crimes" in Washington, D.C., he invoked the special power of the president in the Washington Self-Government Act, put the police force in Washington, D.C. under federal control, and deployed about 800 members of the National Guard to strengthen law enforcement. Trump called the move "liberating Washington, D.C."

Both actions encountered strong resistance at the local level: Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called Trump's actions "deliberately provocative", and the California government appealed accusing Trump of exceeding his authority. Although Washington Mayor Bowser acknowledged Trump's power to send the National Guard, she strongly questioned the rationality of the intervention.

In the United States, members of the National Guard are military-trained soldiers, equipped with weapons, receiving similar training and equipment as the active army. In law, they belong to the U.S. Armed Forces, the Army, the Navy and other active forces are subject to the U.S. Armed Forces Code. However, this armed force has a very special legal status in the United States, has a "double attribute" at the state level and the federal level. The law stipulates that the National Guard is usually under the leadership of the governor, carrying out disaster relief,ining security and other national tasks, but in certain circumstances the U.S. President can "federalise" it, directly command it, and send it to participate in national and even global tasks (such as calming rebell

At the practical level, the U.S. president often needs to have sufficient communication and consultation with the state level before dispatching the National Guard. For example, the last time the president directly used the National Guard in Los Angeles dates back to 1965. Trump bypassed local governments and directly called the National Guard in the form of executive orders, which also caused him to face resistance from local officials.

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Edited by Jan.