Trump threatens to expand National Guard deployment to Baltimore

WASHINGTON, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday threatened to expand military deployment to Baltimore in a clash with Maryland Governor Wes Moore, who criticized the deployment of National Guard in Washington, D.C., and invited Trump to visit his state and discuss public safety.

"Wes Moore's record on Crime is a very bad one, unless he fudges his figures on crime like many of the other 'Blue States' are doing," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

"But if Wes Moore needs help, like Gavin Newscum (Newsom) did in L.A., I will send in the 'troops,' which is being done in nearby DC, and quickly clean up the Crime," he added.

Trump's remarks were in response to the Maryland governor's recent offer that Trump could "walk the streets of Maryland" and discuss public safety, an offer Trump viewed as being delivered in a "nasty and provocative tone."

"The reason that I asked the president to come and join us is because he seems to enjoy living in this blissful ignorance, these tropes and these 1980s scare tactics," Moore said in an interview with CBS.

"While the President is spending his time from the Oval Office making jabs and attacks at us, there are people actually on the ground doing the work who know what supports would actually work to continue to bring down crime. But it's falling on deaf ears of the president of the United States," Moore said.

According to the Baltimore Police Department, homicides in Baltimore have dropped by 22 percent in 2025 compared with the previous year.

Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday that Chicago could be the next city the federal government targets in its crime crackdown, following several days of action in Washington, D.C.. He later mentioned New York, along with Chicago, as cities he'd like the National Guard to help tackle crime.

On Aug. 11, when Trump announced at a White House press conference that he is deploying the National Guard to assist in restoring law and order and public safety in D.C., he also cited Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Baltimore and Oakland as troubled cities -- all Democratic-led cities. ■