Trump Proposes National Guard Deployment to New Orleans, Draws Pushback from Local Democrats
After citing a recent federal operation in Washington, the president suggested sending troops to cities with crime concerns; Louisiana’s governor welcomed the offer while New Orleans Democrats called it politicized.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he is considering sending National Guard and other federal forces to New Orleans to address crime, touting what he described as a successful federal takeover of Washington, D.C., three weeks ago.
Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump said the D.C. operation had turned the city into a "totally safe zone" and suggested his administration could replicate that effort in other cities, mentioning Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. He singled out New Orleans and said Gov. Jeff Landry had invited federal assistance, asserting the administration could "straighten that out in about two weeks."
Trump said he had declared a public safety emergency in the nation’s capital and "federalized the city’s police force" three weeks ago. Data from city officials indicate violent crime in Washington had been declining before the federal operation began and showed a further decline during the period of increased federal involvement, according to local reports cited by the administration.
New Orleans Democrats pushed back against the proposal, accusing the president of "scare tactics and politicizing public safety." The local pushback highlighted concerns about federal involvement in municipal policing and the political framing of crime-prevention efforts in an election year.
Gov. Landry, a Republican, appeared to welcome the suggestion, posting on X that the state would accept federal assistance and writing, "We will take President Donald Trump’s help from New Orleans to Shreveport!" The governor has positioned himself as an ally to the administration on law-and-order initiatives.
The White House has not released a detailed plan for how any deployment to New Orleans or other cities would be carried out, including which forces would be used, how long they would remain, or the legal authorities underpinning such a move. Administration officials have framed the D.C. action as a model for a potential short-term mission to reduce violence.
Local officials and civil liberties advocates have previously warned that federal deployments can raise questions about oversight, local control and community relations. New Orleans leaders said they would need more specifics about any proposed operation, and some expressed skepticism that a short-term federal intervention would address deeper, long-standing public safety challenges.
Trump’s comments come amid a broader White House effort to emphasize public safety as a central issue. While administration officials point to recent declines in some crime statistics where federal forces have been deployed, municipal officials and independent analysts note that crime trends are influenced by many factors and can be difficult to attribute to any single policy or action.
As of Wednesday, no formal decision had been announced about deploying National Guard or federalized units to New Orleans or other cities Trump mentioned, and officials said determinations were still under consideration.