Donald Trump is doubling down on his aggressive crackdown on crime in major U.S. cities. On Tuesday, during a meeting with military leaders in Quantico, Virginia, he proposed using several American cities as “training grounds” for the military, describing the situation as “a war from within.”
Trump emphasized that defending the homeland is the military’s “most important priority,” according to The Hill. He suggested that military leaders might be called upon to assist in federal crime interventions.
Among the cities Trump specifically mentioned were Chicago and New York City—both led by Democratic officials.
“They’re very unsafe places, and we’re going to straighten them out one by one,” Trump said, as reported by The Hill. “And this is going to be a major part for some of the people in this room. That’s a war, too. It’s a war from within.”
He added, “I told [Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth], we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military—National Guard, but our military too—because we’re going into Chicago very soon. That’s a big city with an incompetent governor.”
Trump’s administration has previously deployed National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., and Memphis, Tennessee, to tackle rising crime. Earlier this week, he also announced plans to send troops to Portland, Oregon.
While many Democratic leaders have criticized Trump’s use of the military as authoritarian, the president insists it is necessary. “America is under invasion from within,” he said. “No different than a foreign enemy, but more difficult in many ways because they don’t wear uniforms.”
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