As Chicago and Baltimore officials brace for an influx of federal law enforcement officers, President Donald Trump continues to expand the list of cities he discusses deploying federal troops to, naming New Orleans on Wednesday as the first red-state city that could see deployment.
Trump’s discussions of federal troop deployment coincide with the major legal battle in court between his administration and Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) over Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to Los Angeles to quell protests responding to immigration raids.
A United States district judge ruled Tuesday that Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to Los Angeles violated federal law. Judge Charles Breyer determined that the deployment of the troops, 300 of which are still in Los Angeles, did not comply with the Posse Comitatus Act, which limits federal military troops from enforcing civilian laws. The Trump administration appealed the ruling to a higher court on Wednesday.
In his 52-page ruling, Breyer wrote that his injunction “applies only to Defendants’ use of the
National Guard in California, not nationally,” and wrote that the Trump administration is not “barred from using troops consistent with the Posse Comitatus Act.”
Federal law enforcement officers and National Guard troops are currently stationed throughout Washington, D.C., as Trump federalized the district’s police department in early August. However, Trump has made it clear that Washington is not the only metropolitan area where he wants to intervene to fight crime.
Here are some of the cities Trump has entertained sending federal troops to.
Washington, DC
Trump’s Washington takeover has netted 1,669 arrests nearly one month into the federalization, according to a Tuesday Fox News report. District Mayor Muriel Bowser signed an executive order Tuesday extending the district’s cooperation with federal law enforcement indefinitely.
Though initially wavering in her response, at first calling the move “unsettling” then “authoritarian,” Bowser has ultimately touted Trump for decreasing crime in the district.
“Since August 11, 2025, due to the cooperative efforts between District and federal officials, violent crime in the District has noticeably decreased,” Bowser wrote in the executive order.
Trump’s declared crime emergency is set to expire on Sept. 10, according to Boswer. For the 30-day takeover to be extended, Congress would have to take action and pass a joint resolution.
Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Oakland, California
Nearly three months after Trump initially deployed almost 5,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles, approximately 300 remain in the Southern California city. The remaining troops are stationed in the city to protect federal property and personnel, according to Judge Breyer’s ruling.
LA Mayor Karen Bass has criticized the military deployment, saying in June, “We don‘t want them here. They don‘t need to be here.”
Newsom has taken an adversarial role in Trump’s debate over National Guard deployment, issuing a statement on Tuesday celebrating Breyer’s court ruling.
“As the court today ruled, Trump is breaking the law by ‘creating a national police force with the President as its chief.’ That’s exactly what we’ve been warning about for months. There is no rampant lawlessness in California, and in fact, crime rates are higher in Republican-led states,” Newsom said.
Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have also talked about sending federal law enforcement to San Francisco and Oakland, according to Breyer’s ruling.
“My administration has made safe and clean streets our top priority, and the results are clear: Crime is at its lowest point in decades, visitors are coming back, and San Francisco is on the rise,” San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said in a statement to the San Francisco Standard.
Chicago
Trump has threatened to send National Guard troops and federal officers into the Windy City many times over the past month, telling White House reporters on Tuesday, “We’re going in. I didn’t say when.”
Gov. JB Pritzker (D-IL), who has also played an adversarial role against Trump on the issue, said Tuesday that he believes National Guard troops and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are preparing to enter Chicago.
Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson strongly opposed any federal law enforcement help. Johnson signed an executive order on Saturday resisting any potential federal deployment. Pritzker called Trump’s threatened crackdown on crime in Chicago a “invasion,” though Trump has maintained that Chicagoans support a federally assisted crime crackdown in the city.
Baltimore
Trump also referred to Baltimore when he told reporters on Tuesday, “We’re going in.” Trump and Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD) have publicly argued whether the Maryland city needs crime intervention.
Moore invited Trump to take a “public safety walk” with him through the city in September, an offer Trump turned down. “As President, I would much prefer that he clean up this Crime disaster before I go there for a ‘walk,’” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Moore told Fox News on Thursday that he would welcome federal law enforcement support if the city needed it. “I would absolutely welcome federal support, but I also know that federal support is going to be necessary and required,” Moore said on the Will Cain Show.
New Orleans
The biggest city in Louisiana has become Trump’s most recent crime-reduction target as the president announced he is considering sending federal troops to the city on Tuesday.
“We’re making a determination now: Do we go to Chicago or do we go to a place like New Orleans, where we have a great governor, Jeff Landry, who wants us to come in?” Trump said to reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday.
The Rochester Institute of Technology lists New Orleans as the city with the second-highest homicide rate in 2024. Shreveport, Louisiana, has the 10th-highest murder rate out of cities with populations over 100,000, according to an Axios report based on FBI data.
Gov. Jeff Landry (R-LA) wrote on X in support of Trump’s proposed plan on Wednesday, “We will take President @realDonaldTrump’s help from New Orleans to Shreveport!”
New York
Trump reiterated that he is weighing sending federal law enforcement officers to New York on Wednesday. He told reporters in late August that he would want to keep any influx of officers to the city “friendly.”
Both New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) have said the city does not need the National Guard’s help. Hochul also called Trump to attempt to ward off any federal law enforcement or National Guard deployment, according to ABC 7.
Shapiro, preemptively, on a ‘prepared’ Philadelphia
Among other blue states with Democratic rising stars sitting as governors, Pennsylvania has steered clear of any indication from Trump that he would mobilize federal troops in Philadelphia. But Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) preemptively stepped in on Tuesday, saying he “has been preparing for such a thing to happen in Philadelphia,” according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. The White House declined to comment on Trump’s plans to send troops to Philadelphia.