❓WHAT HAPPENED: President Donald J. Trump suggested deploying federal troops to New Orleans, Louisiana, to address crime in the Democrat stronghold.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: President Donald J. Trump, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry (R), and New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell (D).
📍WHEN & WHERE: Comments made September 3 in the Oval Office, referencing New Orleans and other cities.
💬KEY QUOTE: “We’re going to be going to maybe Louisiana, and you have New Orleans, which has a crime problem. We’ll straighten that out in about two weeks.” – Donald Trump
🎯IMPACT: A Washington, D.C.-style federal crackdown in New Orleans could achieve a similarly dramatic decrease in crime.
President Donald J. Trump has floated the idea of deploying federal troops to New Orleans in response to rising crime in the city, similar to his ongoing federal crackdown on crime in Washington, D.C. Speaking from the Oval Office on September 3, Trump said, “We’re going to be going to maybe Louisiana, and you have New Orleans, which has a crime problem. We’ll straighten that out in about two weeks. It’ll take us two weeks, easier than D.C.”
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, a Republican, welcomed the proposal, posting a clip of Trump’s remarks on X (formerly Twitter) and writing, “We will take President [Donald Trump’s] help from New Orleans to Shreveport!”
While Republicans control the state government in Louisiana, New Orleans is a Democratic stronghold, voting for former Vice President Kamala Harris by over 80 percent in 2024 and electing Democrat LaToya Cantrell as Mayor.
Trump has previously used federal law enforcement and National Guard troops to address violent crime and civil unrest in major cities. In Washington, D.C., he recently federalized the Metropolitan Police Department for 30 days and deployed Guardsmen and federal law enforcement personnel to assist them, a move that saw more than 700 arrests and a sharp drop in violent crime.
A recent poll found that most voters supported the D.C. crackdown, with 54 percent calling it “justified and necessary.” Support was especially strong among Republicans, but nearly half of independents and even over a quarter of Democrats agreed with the move. Trump has said similar strategies could soon be rolled out in cities like other Democrat-run crime hotspots like Chicago and New York.
Earlier this year, Trump’s deployment of the National Guard and U.S. Marines to Los Angeles, California, during pro-illegal immigrant riots faced legal challenges, with lawyers for Governor Gavin Newsom (D) arguing it violated laws limiting military involvement in domestic law enforcement. The matter is still being fought out in the courts.
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