August 25, 2025
President Trump just laid the ground work to send the National Guard troops to more cities around the country…maybe even yours. And he says he’s tired of being criticized for it. He says you should be thanking him for putting the military on American streets.
So how is trump laying the ground work to expand beyond Washington DC? You may have missed it because it’s buried in an executive order he signed today meant to address the crime emergency in Washington DC. But if you look closer you’ll find this section…which includes a very specific order to the secretary of defense. It says the secretary *shall* immediately begin ensuring that each state’s national guard and air national guard are “resourced, trained, organized, and available to assist federal, state, and local law enforcement in quelling civil disturbances and ensuring the public safety and order whenever the circumstances necessitate, as appropriate under law.” The order says these national guard troops need to be ready for “rapid mobilization”.
That section builds on another section – which allows the Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to create and train a new specialized national guard unit in Washington DC dedicated to “ensuring safety” in the District. Obviously this would be a template for other National Guard troops in other states to start creating similar specialized units. Trump says he wants to send National Guard troops to place like Los Angeles, New York, Baltimore and even Chicago. He says the political leaders in those cities and states should be asking him for help.
Well – Governor Pritzker in Illinois clearly said he wants trump to stay out of his state – oh and he had his own comeback for Trump’s insult.
So the question is – can Trump actually deploy the national guard to any state he wants simply because he says there’s a “crime emergency.” Well it’s true – he’s doing it in Washington DC but he has the right to do it – at least for now — because DC is not a state. And the president has clear powers outlined in the home rule law. But when you start talking about states – that’s a whole different story. Generally – the governor of the state has control over the National Guard of that state. There are certain circumstances that the president can deploy the national guard in a state without the consent of the governor. For example if there’s an insurrection or a foreign invasion he can do it without the governor’s authorization. The president can also deploy the National Guard to do things like protect federal property or personnel…but only after notifying the governor of that state. In fact there’s a lawsuit working its way through the California federal courts in California right now challenging Trump’s mobilization of the National Guard during those ICE raids and protests a few months ago. California governor Gavin Newsom said Trump completely overstepped his authority by deploying the California National Guard and marines without his consent. We don’t yet have a ruling on that case. But it will definitely play into what happens if Trump decides to deploy the guard to other states to fight crime.
Now there’s one more law I want to call your attention to. Its’ something the governor of Illinois brought up today it’s called the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878. That law says pretty specifically that the federal government is prohibited from using military personnel to enforce domestic policies – like police work. The law says the only military that is allowed to act in a law enforcement capacity is the National Guard – but only after it is invited to do so by that state’s governor. So far – no governor of Illinois, Baltimore, New York or California have asked for Trump to deploy the national guard. And if he does – there will likely be immediate lawsuits filed to stop it.
Read the executive order here.
Watch Trump talk about it here.
Watch the Gov. of Illinois here.
