President Donald Trump called Monday for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to create a “quick reaction force” made up of National Guard troops that would be available for “rapid nationwide deployment.”
Trump signed an executive order Monday that directed Hegseth to “immediately begin ensuring that each State’s Army 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 National Guard is already trained to be available to assist law enforcement with public safety, often at the request of their state’s governor. In June, Trump federalized California’s National Guard without a request by Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom to assist and protect Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Los Angeles, as well as protect federal buildings.
The executive order also directs Hegseth to “designate an appropriate number of each State’s trained National Guard members to be reasonably available for rapid mobilization for such purposes” and establish a standing quick reaction force that shall be “available for rapid nationwide deployment.”
Many details remain unknown, though it demonstrates Trump’s willingness to deploy the National Guard for public safety concerns.
Trump also has deployed the National Guard in Washington, D.C., following widespread violence in the city and has openly considered deploying such troops to Chicago, Baltimore and New York.
Trump controls the D.C. National Guard because the District of Columbia is a federal district, not a state, while state governors typically command their National Guards unless federalized, at which point the president, and the Defense Department hold ultimate authority.
The Posse Comitatus Act limits the use of federalized National Guard forces for domestic law enforcement, but a president can use them when he is unable to execute federal laws with regular forces because of obstructions, such as when protests or civil unrest prevent federal law enforcement from functioning. That was the reason for deploying National Guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles in June.
Trump said during a news conference Monday that aired live on Newsmax and the Newsmax2 free online streaming platform that he’s open to deploying the National Guard to cities even without support from governors of those states.
“I am, but I also think that, look, Chicago, everybody knows how bad it is,” Trump said. “Everybody standing here knows; we know. You don’t have to be doing any studies. They should be saying, please come in. [Democrat Gov. JB] Pritzker should be saying that.
“We saved Los Angeles and all we did is get criticized by this idiot that’s running the state into the ground,” Trump said. “People are leaving. He should be thanking us, and he should be requesting us to be there. And the governor of Illinois should be. Chicago is a disaster. And the governor of Illinois should say, [Mr.] President, would you do us the honor of cleaning up our city? We need help. They need help.”
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.
