{"id":400829,"date":"2025-09-05T20:10:17","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T20:10:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/400829\/"},"modified":"2025-09-05T20:10:17","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T20:10:17","slug":"contributor-america-wants-trump-to-fight-crime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/400829\/","title":{"rendered":"Contributor: America wants Trump to fight crime"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Donald Trump\u2019s recent floated proposal to deploy the National Guard to crime-overrun blue cities like Chicago and Baltimore<\/a> has been met with howls of outrage<\/a> from the usual suspects<\/a>. For many liberal talking heads and Democratic officials, this is simply the latest evidence of Trump\u2019s \u201cauthoritarianism.\u201d But such specious analysis distracts from what all parties ought to properly focus on: the well-being of the people who actually live in such crime-addled jurisdictions.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s remarkable is not just the specific policy suggestion itself \u2014 after all, federal force has been called in, or sent in, to assist state-level law enforcement plenty of times \u2014 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<\/a> of clear 80-20 issues. It\u2019s political jiu-jitsu at its finest.<\/p>\n

Crime in cities like Chicago and Baltimore isn\u2019t a right-wing fever dream. It\u2019s a persistent, documented crisis that continues to destroy communities and ruin lives. Chicago saw nearly 600 homicides<\/a> in 2024 alone. In Baltimore, despite a recent downtick, violent crime remains exponentially higher<\/a> than national averages. Sustained, decades-long Democratic leadership in both cities has failed, time and again, to secure even a minimum baseline level of safety for residents \u2014 many of whom are Black and working-class, two communities Democrats purport to champion.<\/p>\n

Trump sees that leadership and quality-of-life vacuum. And he\u2019s filling it with a popular message of law and order.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s proposal to deploy the National Guard isn\u2019t the flight of fancy of a would-be strongman. It\u2019s federalism functioning as the founders intended: The federal government must step in, per Article IV of the Constitution<\/a>, when local governance breaks down so catastrophically that the feds are needed to \u201cguarantee \u2026 a republican form of government.\u201d Even more specifically, the Insurrection Act of 1807<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s critics would rather not have a conversation about bloody cities like Chicago \u2014 or the long history of presidents deploying the National Guard when local circumstances require it. They\u2019d rather scream \u201cfascism\u201d than explain why a grandmother on the South Side of Chicago should have to dodge gang bullets on her way to church. They\u2019d rather chant slogans about \u201cabolishing the police\u201d than face the hard fact that the communities most devastated by crime consistently clamor for more law enforcement<\/a> \u2014 not less.<\/p>\n

This is where Trump\u2019s political instincts shine. He doesn\u2019t try to \u201cwin\u201d the crime debate by splitting the difference with progressives. He doesn\u2019t offer a milquetoast promise to fund \u201cviolence interrupters\u201d or expand toothless social programs. He goes right at the issue, knowing full well that the American people are with him.<\/p>\n

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 \u2014 often in the 70-80% range \u2014 support more police funding and oppose the left\u2019s radical decarceration agenda. Democrats, ever in thrall to their activist far-left flank<\/a>, are stuck defending policies with rhetoric that most voters correctly identify as both dangerous and absurd.<\/p>\n

Trump knows that when he floats these proposals, Democrats and their corporate media allies won\u2019t respond with nuance. They\u2019ll respond with knee-jerk outrage \u2014 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.<\/p>\n

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 children\u2019s gender transitions from parents. When Trump condemns pro-Hamas rioters in American cities, Democrats can\u2019t bring themselves to say a word of support for Israel\u2019s war against a State Department-recognized foreign terrorist organization. When Trump signs an executive order seeking to prosecute flag burning, Democrats defend flag burning.<\/p>\n

On and on it goes. By now, it\u2019s a well-established pattern. And it\u2019s politically devastating for the left. Moreover, the relevant history is on Trump\u2019s side. This sort of federal corrective goes back all the way to the republic\u2019s origins; those now freaking out might want to read up on George Washington\u2019s efforts to quash the Whiskey Rebellion<\/a> in 1794.<\/p>\n

Call it the art of the 80-20 issue. Along with his sheer sense of humor, Trump\u2019s instinctual knack for picking such winning battles is one of his greatest political assets. And this time, the winner won\u2019t just be Trump himself \u2014 it will be Chicagoans and Baltimoreans as well.<\/p>\n

Josh Hammer\u2019s latest book is \u201cIsrael and Civilization: The Fate of the Jewish Nation and the Destiny of the West.\u201d This article was produced in collaboration with Creators Syndicate. @josh_hammer<\/a><\/p>\n

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