President Donald Trump declared that he will escalate his military deployments in major cities to curb crime, a move that has met with controversy.
The president addressed American service members in Japan on Monday, touting the strength of the U.S. military and his administration’s approach to foreign and domestic security. “We’ve just approved the biggest budget in the history—one over a trillion dollars,” he said.
Trump further highlighted the excellence of the U.S. Navy and celebrated the longstanding alliance with Japan’s government.
Portland, Ore. — A resident living near the ICE facility praises President Trump for deploying the military/federal agents to quash Antifa:
— Katie Daviscourt 📸 (@KatieDaviscourt) September 28, 2025
"I am so happy that President Trump is deploying the National Guard. We have been asking for help for months." pic.twitter.com/q2OKlBZuSx
A core theme of the president’s speech was restoring law and order and protecting public safety it American cities. He recalled, “On my first day back in the White House, I deployed the men and women of the United States military to stop the invasion on our southern border,” and “we sent in our National Guard, again, great people…and now it’s considered…very safe.”
Trump continued, noting, “we’re sending in our National Guard and if we need more than the National Guard, we’ll send more than the National Guard because we’re gonna have safe cities.”
He added: “People don’t care if we send in our military, if we send in our National Guarrd, if we send in Space Comman, they don’t care who the hell it is—they just want to be safe.”
Trump: “People don't care if we send in our military, if we send in our National Guard, if we send in Space Command…If we need more than the National Guard, we'll send more than the National Guard…And whether people like that or not, that's what we're doing.” pic.twitter.com/ATeS2F2PIf
— The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline) October 28, 2025
The president outlined his plans for troop deployments. “We’re starting in Memphis, and Memphis was a disaster…and we’re gonna go into Chicago, we’re gonna go into our cities, we’re gonna clear them out, we’re gonna straighten them out and we’re gonna have safe cities,” he declared.
He also took a shot at Democratic governors opposing his methods, saying, “it doesn’t matter, really. We can do as we want to do, but it would be nice to have more help from some of the Democratic governors that don’t mind in Chicago.”
Since Trump took office, the White House has sent National Guard troops to cities such as Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Memphis, and Portland. Democrats have criticized these operations as unnecessary government overreach, citing significant declines in crimes across the country. The White House defended the efforts, saying they are necessary to prevent crime and to enforce immigration laws.
Democratic officials have filed several lawsuits challenging Trump’s use of the National Guard in their cities. A federal appeals court recently upheld the president’s authority to continue deploying troops in Oregon. Federal judges have halted deployments in other cities like Chicago. Eventually, this matter will likely make it to the Supreme Court.