President Trump has ordered federal agents to assist in numerous cities facing an uptick in violent crime, and he suggested sending in tens of thousands more.
The president, in a Thursday night interview with Fox News’s Sean Hannity, claimed that if he had the support of local leaders, he could deploy anywhere from 50,000-75,000 federal officers to deter crime.
“We want to go in and help the cities, we want help Chicago, we want to help all of them,” Trump said. “Detroit is having problems. A very good police chief in Detroit, but they have problems. We’ll go into all the cities, any of the cities. We’re ready. We’ll put in 50,000, 60,000 people that really know what they are doing. And they are strong, they’re tough, and we can solve these problems so fast. But as you know, we have to be invited in.”
He then upped that number moments later.
“I spoke with the mayor of Chicago, Mayor [Lori] Lightfoot,” Trump added. “And I had a great talk, but within minutes after that talk, you just reported it tonight, a couple of more people were shot. Young, very young children were shot. It’s a shame. It’s a shame. We could solve it. If they invited us in, we would go in with 50,000, 75,000 people. We would be able to solve it like you wouldn’t believe and quick. But they just don’t want to ask, maybe for political reasons, but they don’t want to ask. It’s a disgrace.”
The president has sent federal agents to assist in Portland, Oregon, but their arrival led to hundreds of more people turning out to protest their presence. As violence in other cities has continued to spike, the president has announced his plan to deploy agents from the FBI, U.S. Marshals Service, and other agencies to partner with local agencies in other cities such as Chicago and Kansas City.
