Trump says military should use U.S. cities as "training grounds"
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
President Trump speaks to senior military leaders at Marine Corps Base Quantico on September 30. Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
President Trump told the nation's top military officials Tuesday troops should use "dangerous" American cities as "training grounds."
The big picture: Trump has used crime as a pretext to deploy troops to Democratic-led cities, with the National Guard patrolling the streets of D.C. and Portland bracing to become the next target.
Driving the news: Trump, in a scattered speech during Tuesday's address to military leaders at Quantico, said forces would be "going into Chicago," which he described as a "big city with an incompetent governor."
- Trump has repeatedly floated applying his D.C. blueprint to the Windy City, which Illinois Gov JB Pritzker (D) has adamantly resisted. Armed federal agents are already on the ground in the city as part of an operation aimed at detaining undocumented immigrants.
- He also claimed Portland looked like a "war zone" despite political and community leaders decrying the proposed military action. Locals have shared images of the city that offer a stark contrast to the president's description.
What he's saying: Trump told military leaders "we have to handle" the so-called "enemy from within."
- He referenced an executive order directing the defense secretary to establish a National Guard "quick reaction force" for nationwide deployment to "help quell civil disturbances."
- Trump defended his domestic use of troops, arguing he's not the first president to use "the military to keep peace."
Reality check: The Posse Comitatus Act largely bars federal troops from participating in civilian law enforcement except in cases expressly authorized by the Constitution or Congress.
Zoom out: He said he saw an image of a soldier being spit on and screamed at, saying, "he wants to knock the hell out of the person, but he's not allowed to do anything."
- The president encouraged soldiers to "hit" people if they are spit on. If demonstrators throw rocks or bricks at cars, he said, federal law enforcement should "get out of that car and you can do whatever the hell you want to do."
Trump said he told Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth the military "should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds."
- Earlier in his address, he named a number of cities run by "radical left Democrats" that he vowed to "straighten … out."
- Much of the Trump administration's targeting of blue cities has come in the form of surging immigration enforcement.
- "This is going to be a major part for some of the people in this room," he said. "That's a war too. It's a war from within. Controlling the physical territory of our border is essential to national security."
Go deeper: Trump says he'll fire generals "on the spot" if he dislikes them
Editor's note: This breaking news story has been updated with more information from Trump's speech.
