D.C. Is Just the Beginning—the Trump Administration Is Preparing To Deploy Troops to More U.S. Cities.

Following his declaration of a “crime emergency” in Washington, D.C., two weeks ago, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday directing leaders of the D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force to take “further actions” to support his federal takeover of the city. 

The order directs the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia and the U.S. Park Police in D.C. to hire additional staff to “focus on prosecuting violent and property crimes.” It mandates the creation of “an online portal for Americans with law enforcement or other relevant backgrounds and experience” to apply and “join Federal law enforcement entities” in “ensuring public safety and order” in the nation’s capital. 

It remains unclear how this online portal will differ from existing hiring platforms for federal agencies. White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers tells Reason the president’s executive order uses “commonsense measures” and “all federal resources” to increase the ranks of federal law enforcement and “Make DC Safe and Beautiful Again.”

Perhaps the most troubling part of the order is that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is tasked with establishing specialized units focused on “public safety and order” that can be deployed in D.C. or other cities. Pentagon plans leaked earlier this month detailed a 600-troop “Domestic Civil Disturbance Quick Reaction Force” deployable within an hour to U.S. cities facing unrest. The executive order activates those plans for the defense secretary to train state Army and Air National Guards for “civil disturbances” and establish a “standing National Guard quick reaction force” for nationwide deployment.

The president could utilize these forces as he seeks to replicate his actions in D.C. in Los Angeles—a lawsuit challenging the deployment of the California National Guard in L.A. is still pending—and other cities across the country.  On Saturday, The Washington Post reported that the Pentagon has been “planning a military deployment to Chicago” for weeks. The planning “involves several options, including mobilizing at least a few thousand members of the National Guard as soon as September,” per the Post. The president has also threatened to send troops into Baltimore to “quickly clean up the [city's] Crime,” per the BBC. 

The federal takeover of D.C. may have been unprecedented, but as Monday’s executive order shows, similar takeovers may soon be coming to other American cities. 

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