President Trump threatened to deploy more troops to U.S. cities this week — and not just the National Guard — as part of what he describes as his national crackdown on crime.
Speaking to U.S. troops aboard an aircraft carrier in Japan, Trump said he planned to expand his crime and immigration offensive because "we have cities in trouble."
"We're sending in our National Guard, and if we need more than the National Guard, we'll send more than the National Guard, because we're going to have safe cities," Trump said, aboard the USS George Washington at the Yokosuka Naval Base. "We're not going to have people killed in our cities. And whether people like that or not, that's what we're doing."
The White House has transformed what started as a focused effort, purportedly meant to address crime in Washington, D.C. into a nationwide campaign to portray Trump and the Republicans as unabashed crime fighters while painting Democrats as coddlers of crime. Violent crime in the city was at a 30-year low prior to the Guard's arrival.
Trump has also deployed troops to Los Angeles, Chicago, Memphis, Tenn., and Portland, Ore, which has triggered protests and lawsuits.
Democratic leaders have accused the White House of exaggerating the challenges in order to launch an illegal military occupation. But Trump is banking on the moves helping him and Republicans in next year's midterms.
At a cabinet meeting in August, Trump called crime a stronger issue for Republicans to run on than transgender athletes in school sports and possibly even immigration.
"Crime is probably the issue that he fares best on, certainly better than handling inflation or trade or even international relations, despite some of the successes that he's had recently," said Jon McHenry, a Republican pollster with North Star Opinion Research.
Political data points to a clear opportunity for Trump and the Republicans.
Though FBI data show that violent crime decreased by 4.5 percent last year, a new Gallup poll released Thursday shows almost half of Americans — 49 percent — feel that crime has risen from last year — while about a third — or 33 percent — feel crime has gone down.
The Gallup poll also reveals some political risks for Trump. More Americans oppose using federal troops to combat domestic crime than support the move — but the divide is largely along political lines, as Republicans overwhelmingly support the use of troops while Democrats are opposed.
Crime shouldn't be looked at through a partisan lens, but Trump has tapped into one of the most basic quality of life issues, said Jillian Snider, a member of the Council on Criminal Justice and retired New York police officer.
She said most people do not look online to see if crime is up or down. They instead walk down the street.
"That is the real problem here, that general community members, they don't care as much to be schooled by what the stats show us," said Snider, who also teaches at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. "They just care about how they feel in their communities."
Republicans have long leaned into law and order, but veteran political strategist Alex Conant says Trump embraces the issue in an unprecedented way when you look at troops in cities.
"He told his base he was going to get crime in American cities under control. And now, when you turn on the TV at night, U.S. troops are trying to do exactly that," Conant said. "Now, obviously, there's going to be a lot of opposition to it, especially amongst Democrats, people who live in some of those neighborhoods. But this is what he told his base he would do, and now he's delivering it. And, he's proud of it."
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