Donald Trumpâs recent floated proposal to deploy the National Guard to crime-overrun blue cities like Chicago and Baltimore has been met with howls of outrage from the usual suspects.
For many liberal talking heads and Democratic officials, this is simply the latest evidence of Trumpâs âauthoritarianism.â But such specious analysis and manufactured hysteria distract from what all parties ought to properly focus on: the well-being of the people who actually live in such crime-addled jurisdictions.
Whatâs remarkable is not just the specific policy suggestion itself â after all, federal force has been called in to assist state-level law enforcement plenty of times â but rather how Trump is once again baiting his political opponents into defending the indefensible. He has a singular talent for making the Left clutch onto wildly unpopular positions and take the wrong side of clear 80-20 issues. Itâs political jiu-jitsu at its finest.
Crime in cities like Chicago and Baltimore isnât a right-wing fever dream. Itâs a persistent, documented crisis that continues to destroy communities and ruin lives. Chicago saw nearly 600 homicides in 2024 alone, âearningâ it the dubious title of Americaâs homicide capital for the 13th consecutive year. In Baltimore, despite a recent downtick, violent crime remains exponentially higher than national averages. Sustained, decadeslong Democratic leadership in both cities has failed, time and again, to secure even a minimum baseline level of safety for its residents â many of whom are Black and working-class, the very communities Democrats purport to champion.
Trump sees that leadership and quality-of-life vacuum. And heâs filling it with a popular message of law and order.
Trumpâs proposal to deploy the National Guard â if local leadership continues to abdicate their most basic governance duties â isnât the flight of fancy of a would-be strongman. Itâs federalism functioning as the Founders intended: The federal government must step in, per Article IV of the Constitution, when local governance breaks down so catastrophically that the feds are needed to âguarantee ⌠a republican form of government.â
Even more specifically, the Insurrection Act of 1807 has long been available as a congressionally authorized tool for presidents to restore order when state unrest reaches truly intolerable levels. Presidents from Jefferson to Eisenhower to Bush 41 have invoked it.
Trumpâs critics would rather not have a conversation about bloody cities like Chicago â or the long history of presidents deploying the National Guard when local circumstances require it. Theyâd rather scream âfascismâ than explain why a grandmother in Englewood should have to dodge gang bullets on her way to church. Theyâd rather chant slogans about âabolishing the policeâ than face the hard fact that the communities most devastated by crime consistently clamor for more law enforcement â not less.
This is where Trumpâs political instincts shine. He doesnât try to âwinâ the crime debate by splitting the difference with progressives. He doesnât offer a milquetoast promise to fund âviolence interruptersâ or expand toothless social programs. He goes right at the issue, knowing full well that the American people are with him.
Because they are. The public has consistently ranked crime and safety among their top concerns; last November, it was usually a top five issue in general election exit polling. And polling consistently shows that overwhelming majorities â often in the 70%-80% range â support more police funding and oppose the Leftâs radical decarceration agenda. Democrats, ever in thrall to their activist far-left flank, are stuck defending policies with rhetoric that most voters correctly identify as both dangerous and absurd.
Trump knows that when he floats these proposals, Democrats and their corporate media allies wonât respond with nuance. Theyâll respond with knee-jerk outrage â just as they did in 2020, when Trump sent federal agents to Portland to stop violent anarchists from torching courthouses. The media framed it as martial law; sane Oregonians saw it as basic governance.
This dynamic plays out again and again. When Trump highlights the border crisis and the need to deport unsavory figures like Mahmoud Khalil and Kilmar Abrego Garcia, Democrats defend open borders. When Trump attacks gender ideology indoctrination in schools, Democrats double down on letting teachers hide childrenâs âtransitionsâ from their parents. When Trump condemns pro-Hamas rioters in American cities, Democrats canât bring themselves to say a word of support for Israelâs war against a U.S. State Department-recognized foreign terrorist organization. When Trump signs an executive order seeking to partially recriminalize flag burning, Democrats defend flag burning.
On and on it goes. By now, itâs a well-established pattern. And itâs politically devastating for the Left. Moreover, the relevant history is on Trumpâs side. This sort of federal corrective goes back all the way to the republicâs origins; those now freaking out might want to read up on George Washingtonâs efforts to quash the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794.
Call it the art of the 80-20 issue. Along with his sheer sense of humor, Trumpâs instinctual knack for picking such winning battles is one of his greatest political assets. And this time, the winner wonât just be Trump himself â it will be Chicagoans and Baltimoreans as well.
To find out more about Josh Hammer and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
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