--- title: Trump Threatens to ‘Send in the Troops’ to Baltimore description: The threat came in response to an invitation from Maryland's Democrat governor Wes Moore for Trump to attend a safety walk in the city. canonical: https://time.com/7311892/trump-baltimore-troops-wes-moore/ author: Richard Hall article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-08-24T16:50:04.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:50:10.184Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Threatens to ‘Send in the Troops’ to Baltimore og:description: The threat came in response to an invitation from Maryland's Democrat Wes Moore for Trump to attend a safety walk. og:url: https://time.com/7311892/trump-baltimore-troops-wes-moore/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta4df166dcac189cd/6998c93583ec377cd7c7adea/trump-dc-patrol-august21.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: President Trump Visits Law Enforcement And National Guard During D.C. Crime Crackdown og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Threatens to ‘Send in the Troops’ to Baltimore twitter:description: The threat came in response to an invitation from Maryland's Democrat Wes Moore for Trump to attend a safety walk. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta4df166dcac189cd/6998c93583ec377cd7c7adea/trump-dc-patrol-august21.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump Threatens to ‘Send in the Troops’ to Baltimore > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=0eb7b20f-5337-4b0f-95bc-ae0618ac9b58&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Trump Plans to Expand Crime Crackdown to Chicago Similar to D.C. [Watch (HLS stream): Trump Plans to Expand Crime Crackdown to Chicago Similar to D.C.](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/jVPVfnta.m3u8) (1:47)  _Published 2025-08-22. The threat came in response to an invitation from Maryland's Democrat governor Wes Moore for Trump to attend a safety walk in the city._  by [Richard Hall](https://time.com/author/richard-hall/)  ## Richard Hall Editor Aug 24, 2025 4:50 PM UTC  President Donald Trump speaks to law enforcement officers during a patrol through Washington, DC, Aug 21. President Donald Trump speaks to law enforcement officers during a patrol through Washington, DC, Aug 21. Anna Moneymaker - Getty Images  by [Richard Hall](https://time.com/author/richard-hall/)  ## Richard Hall Editor Aug 24, 2025 4:50 PM UTC President [Donald Trump](https://time.com/7311513/trump-washington-dc-immigration-school-national-guard/) threatened to “send in the ‘troops’” to Baltimore in a lengthy social media post on Sunday directed at Maryland’s Democrat governor, Wes Moore. The threat came in response to an invitation from Moore for the President to take part in a [safety walk](https://htv-prod-media.s3.amazonaws.com/files/letter-to-president-on-public-safety-68a8657ba0905.pdf) in Baltimore following Trump’s [repeated comments about the city's problems with crime](https://time.com/7309031/democrats-respond-trump-washington-dc-takeover-national-guard-baltimore-chicago-los-angeles-new-york-oakland/). “As President, I would much prefer that he clean up this Crime disaster before I go there for a ‘walk,’” Trump wrote in a lengthy post on [Truth Social](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115084149454997135). “But if Wes Moore needs help, like Gavin Newscum did in L.A., I will send in the ‘troops,’ which is being done in nearby DC, and quickly clean up the Crime,” he added. Moore responded soon after with his [own jab](https://x.com/iamwesmoore/status/1959640110216978832) at the president. “President Bone Spurs will do anything to get out of walking – even if that means spouting off more lies about the progress we’re making on public safety in Maryland,” he wrote on X. “Hey Donald, we can get you a golf cart if that makes things easier. Just let my team know,” he added. **Read more:** [_Trump Says Chicago Is Next in His Crackdown on Crime. Here Are the Facts About Crime in the City_](https://time.com/7311770/chicago-trump-crime-stats/) Trump's threat comes nearly two weeks after he deployed the National Guard and took [federal control over the police force](https://time.com/7311556/trump-threatens-dc-federal-takeover-crime-figures-dispute/) in Washington, D.C., as part of what his administration has claimed is a crackdown on crime. In June, the President [deployed the California National Guard](https://time.com/7308904/dc-national-guard-trump-troops/) and the Marines to Los Angeles, ostensibly to quell protests against his administration's immigration policies. Trump's threat to deploy troops to Baltimore follows a series of similar threats aimed at Democratic-run cities across the country. When announcing the federal takeover of Washington, D.C., Trump said: “This will go further.” “We’re going to take back our capital … and then we’ll look at other cities also,” singling out Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Baltimore, and Oakland. The President said Friday that Chicago was next on his list, telling reporters: “After we do this, we’ll go to another location and we’ll make it safe also.” “Chicago is a mess. You have an incompetent mayor, grossly incompetent, and we’ll straighten that one out, probably next.” Trump has begun to use the potential deployment of National Guard troops as a cudgel to hit back at his Democratic critics. His spat with Moore appears to have been sparked by the governor's criticism of his takeover of Washington, D.C. In Moore's letter to Trump inviting him to Baltimore, he wrote that public safety was personally important to him because he “grew up in and around communities left behind by people in power, who sought to weaponize the pain of their constituents through hollow talking points that never changed the reality on the ground.” “Homicides in Maryland are down statewide by 20% since my inauguration two and a half years ago. In the first six months of 2025, the Baltimore Police Department continued to see double-digit reductions in gun violence, including a 22% decrease in homicides and a 19% decrease in non-fatal shootings from the year before. We are currently on track to have the lowest number of homicides in Baltimore City since we began officially keeping crime statistics,” he added. Trump responded in his post that “Wes Moore’s record on Crime is a very bad one, unless he fudges his figures on crime like many of the other 'Blue States' are doing,” without providing evidence for his claim. ## Transcript So, you know, I really I really am honored that the the National Guard has done such an incredible job working with the police. And we haven't had to bring in the the regular military, which we're willing to do if we have to. And after we do this, we'll go to another location and we'll make it safe. Also, we're going to make our country very safe. We're going to make our cities very, very safe. Chicago is a mess. You have an incompetent mayor. Grossly incompetent. And we'll straighten that one out. Probably next. That'll be our next one after this. Uh, and it won't even be tough. And the people in Chicago, Mr. Vice President, are screaming for us to come. They're wearing red hats just like this one, but they're wearing red hats. Uh, African American ladies, beautiful ladies are saying, please, President Trump, come to Chicago, please. Uh, I did great with the black vote, as you know. And they want something to happen. So I think Chicago will be our next. And then we'll help with, uh, New York. We're going to help with and I think really, I think a lot of and a lot of these people that you see on television, they including the people in this audience, they'll say bad things about me and then they'll say, thank God he's here because half of them got mugged and they don't want to get mugged again. Mr. president, on crime. On D.C. crime. You said Chicago might be next. Uh, are you making have there been concrete steps that the administration is taking to do that, or what are other cities as well? I haven't spoken to him. He's grossly incompetent. I haven't spoken to the mayor. No. When we're ready, we'll go in and we'll straighten out Chicago, just like we did D.C.. Chicago is very dangerous. Great place I built. Great stuff there. I have a I have the most beautiful building in Chicago, I think. 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