Trump Threatens to Send Federalized Troops to Los Angeles and San Francisco to Combat Crime

During a Cabinet meeting on March 26, 2026, President Trump stated his intention to send federalized troops to Los Angeles and San Francisco, calling on mayors and governors to allow troops to "come in and stop the crime." He pointed to purported successes in Washington, Memphis, and New Orleans as justification. In subsequent Fox News interviews, Trump claimed he has "unquestioned power" to deploy the National Guard and suggested he may invoke the Insurrection Act if needed. He specifically urged San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie to accept federal help to make the city "a great city again." This represents an escalation of Trump's controversial deployments to Democratic-run cities and raises significant constitutional concerns about federal overreach into local law enforcement. Legal experts have noted that invoking the Insurrection Act for routine crime enforcement would be an unprecedented expansion of presidential power, as the Act is intended for situations where local authoriti...

"We could do that for L.A. and we could do that for, frankly, San Francisco. We're going to go to San Francisco." — Statement made during Cabinet meeting while discussing federal troop deployments to cities