President Donald Trump has set his sights on New Orleans as the next city for a potential National Guard deployment to combat crime, signalling a bold expansion of his federal law enforcement strategy. Following last month’s deployment of troops and federal agents to Washington, D.C., Trump is now considering sending forces to Democratic strongholds like Chicago, Baltimore, and New Orleans, a blue city in the red state of Louisiana.
“We’re looking at places like New Orleans, where you have a great governor, Jeff Landry, who wants us to come in and clean up,” Trump said during a Wednesday Oval Office meeting with Polish President Karol Nawrocki. “It’ll take us two weeks to straighten it out, easier than D.C.”
Trump’s push comes after he declared Washington a “safe zone”, boasting over 1,760 arrests since August 7. However, unlike Washington, a federal district where Trump has direct authority over local police for up to 30 days, deploying the National Guard to other cities would mark a significant escalation. New Orleans, a Democratic-leaning city under Republican Gov. Jeff Landry, could be a test case for this approach.
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Local leaders in New Orleans are sounding alarms. City Councilmember Oliver Thomas, a mayoral candidate, called the plan a “major overreaction”, texting, “Crime is down in New Orleans. “This feels very political!” Councilmember Jean-Paul Morrell echoed the sentiment, arguing, “The National Guard isn’t trained to police constitutionally or solve crimes. This is an unnecessary show of force.”
Gov. Landry, however, embraced the idea, posting on social media, “We’ll take President Trump’s help from New Orleans to Shreveport!” Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill also backed Trump, criticising local leaders who reject federal assistance, stating, “If you’re refusing resources without condition, you’re part of the problem.”
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, representing New Orleans’ conservative suburbs, praised Trump’s D.C. efforts and urged similar action for New Orleans, saying, “Our citizens and tourists deserve that same level of security.”
The City of New Orleans issued a measured response, noting the value of “federal and state partnerships” for public safety, especially during events, while Mayor LaToya Cantrell faces a federal fraud indictment. Meanwhile, Trump continues to clash with Democratic leaders elsewhere, particularly in Chicago, where Gov. JB Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson have rejected military intervention. Baltimore’s Mayor Brandon Scott and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore have taken similar stances.
In Washington, Mayor Muriel Bowser admitted that Trump’s intervention reduced violent crime but argued that more local police could achieve the same results without federal overreach. “We don’t need a presidential emergency,” Bowser said Wednesday, opposing an extension of Trump’s powers beyond 30 days.
As Trump floats federal intervention along ideological lines, the debate over crime, safety, and federal authority intensifies, with New Orleans now in the crosshairs.
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