President Donald Trump on Monday said his military deployments to combat crime and homelessness in U.S. cities rely on specially selected troops who pass a “toughness test,” while stressing he doesn’t want to “barge in on a city” without being asked.
“I hate to barge in on a city and then be treated horribly by corrupt politicians and bad politicians,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “In a certain way, we should wait to be asked because they have cities that are so out of control.
“So we go in and fix it, they take the full credit for it, and they don’t say that we’re there with very tough people, by the way. They have to pass a toughness test, otherwise they’re not working for us.”
Trump praised recent efforts in Washington, D.C., saying crime has fallen sharply under his crackdown, with no murders reported in 11 days. He also renewed criticism of Democrat governors, including Illinois’ JB Pritzker and California’s Gavin Newsom, both of whom he accused of failing to control crime and mismanaging their states.
The president suggested Chicago could be the next target of his strategy, but added he preferred local officials request federal intervention rather than oppose it.
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