Washington DC , August 25(HS):
President Donald Trump has threatened to deploy federal troops to Baltimore, heightening tensions with Maryland Governor Wes Moore in a deepening dispute over crime and public safety.
In a Sunday post on Truth Social, Trump said he would dispatch troops if the Democratic governor could not handle the situation—claiming, “I will send in the troops and quickly clean up the crime, as we did in DC.”
The remarks came in direct response to Moore’s invitation for the president to join him on a “safety walk” in Baltimore. Trump called the letter “nasty” and “provocative,” adding he would prefer Moore “clean up this crime disaster before I go there for a walk.”
Governor Moore, a vocal critic of Trump’s security strategy, dismissed the comments as “tone deaf and ignorant.” He argued the president was relying on “tropes about our communities” rather than firsthand understanding of local realities.
The threat marks the latest flashpoint in Trump’s broader push to send National Guard troops into Democrat-led cities, a move he frames as part of a nationwide crime crackdown. So far, about 2,000 troops are stationed in Washington DC — many posted near landmarks — with the Pentagon confirming they will soon be armed.
The White House has touted the deployment as a success, with Trump boasting the capital had gone from a “hellhole” to “totally safe.” Yet official statistics undercut that narrative: violent crime in Washington fell to its lowest level in three decades in 2024 and is down a further 26% so far in 2025, according to police data.
Baltimore has also reported progress, recording its fewest homicides in over 50 years.
Despite that, Trump has suggested he could send troops to other cities including New York and Chicago, sparking fierce backlash from Democratic leaders. Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker denounced the idea as “an abuse of power,” while House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries insisted the president lacks legal authority to deploy troops unilaterally.
A recent Washington Post–Schar School poll shows overwhelming public resistance to the policy, with nearly 80% of DC residents opposing both federal takeovers of policing and the use of National Guard units in their city.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
