“President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he may deploy federal troops to New Orleans next, not Chicago, and is waiting for governors to ask for help — a shift in his rhetoric about moving into major U.S. cities uninvited,” Politico reports.

Said Trump: “We are 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 and straighten out a very nice section of this country that has become quite – quite tough, quite bad?”

“House Republicans are weighing a slate of legislation that would overhaul criminal justice policies in D.C. and further restrict home rule — including a proposal that would remove the city’s locally elected attorney general and replace him with a presidential appointee,” the Washington Post reports.

“D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) on Tuesday welcomed federal law enforcement officials to stay in D.C. indefinitely, a powerful indication of her willingness to cooperate with President Donald Trump’s effort to take over public safety in the capital city,” the Washington Post reports.

“By law, Trump’s federalization of the D.C. police force lasts 30 days and is set to expire next week. Bowser’s announcement may quell any showdown over what happens after that deadline passes by authorizing continued cooperation between the city and federal authorities.”

President Trump said Tuesday that he will direct federal law enforcement intervention to Chicago and Baltimore, despite local officials in both places opposing such moves, the AP reports.

Said Trump: “We’re going in. I didn’t say when.”

New York Times: Los Angeles ruling complicates Trump’s threats to send troops to more cities.

“As President Trump threatens more federal incursions into American cities in the name of fighting crime, a group of Democratic mayors huddled on a private strategy call on Wednesday to discuss their plans to fight back,” the New York Times reports.

“The call, hosted by the Democratic Mayors Association, represented a new effort from Democratic officials to wrest the narrative from Republicans on public safety, an issue that Mr. Trump has effectively used as a cudgel. It was also an attempt to coordinate on messaging as national Democrats have strained to mount sustained and unified opposition to the Trump administration.”

“During the call, the mayors in attendance discussed what they saw as an urgent need for Democrats to define themselves as strong stewards of public safety — before Republicans brand them first ahead of pivotal elections.”

A new Reuters/Ipsos poll finds just 38% of Americans support President Trump’s use of troops to police Washington, D.C.

“Illinois Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker promised to challenge President Trump’s plan to deploy the National Guard to the nation’s third-largest city, calling the move unconstitutional and un-American,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The clash highlighted the rocky path the president faces in trying to expand his troop rollout into more blue cities.”

Said Pritzker: “The state of Illinois is ready to stand against this military deployment with every peaceful tool we have. We will see the Trump administration in court.”

“President Trump is molding D.C. into his own personal Epcot — a political theme park where troops keep the peace, the White House glitters like Mar-a-Lago and museums answer to MAGA,” Axios reports.

“No president has asserted such direct and sweeping control over the nation’s capital. With America’s 250th anniversary coming next year, Trump has claimed dominion over D.C.’s crime, culture, cleanliness — even its rats.”

National Guard members in Washington are now carrying weapons and “detentions may occur leading to arrests,” potentially deepening the military’s involvement in President Trump’s federal takeover of D.C. police, the Washington Post reports.

Guard members will carry their service-issued weapons, which may include M4 carbine rifles and M17 pistols.

CBS News: “The step is an escalation in Mr. Trump’s intervention into policing in the nation’s capital and comes as nearly 2,000 National Guard members are stationed in the city, with the arrival last week of hundreds from several Republican-led states.”

“Democrats on Sunday pushed back against President Trump’s characterization of blue-state cities as crime-ridden and lawless, which the White House has used to justify calling up National Guard troops and sending federal law enforcement agents to Washington streets,” the New York Times reports.

“Mr. Trump said on Friday that he was considering using the same playbook in other major American cities, and that Chicago could be next. The administration has not indicated when the National Guard could be sent to Chicago, New York or any of the other cities the president has mentioned.”

“The Pentagon has for weeks been planning a military deployment to Chicago as President Donald Trump seeks to crack down on crime, homelessness and undocumented immigration, in a model that could later be used in other major cities,“ the Washington Post reports.

“The Chicago effort would further expand Trump’s use of military force domestically, even when state and local authorities call the idea unwelcome and unwarranted. Administration officials have defended such deployments, arguing that they are taking necessary steps to bring back law and order.”

“President Donald Trump said he is looking to send in the National Guard to Chicago or New York, seeking to extend the deployment of guardsmen elsewhere after amassing troops in Washington,” Politico reports.

Said Trump: “We’re going to make our cities very, very safe. Chicago is a mess. We’ll straighten that one out probably next. That will be our next one after this, and it won’t even be tough.”
 
Trump later mentioned New York along with Chicago as cities he’d like the National Guard to “help.”

“President Donald Trump announced Friday that he would request $2 billion from Congress to beautify Washington, the latest development in his plans to dramatically remake a city he says was overrun with crime and decay before he intervened,” the Washington Post reports.

“Trump said the administration would improve light fixtures and roads within a three-mile radius of the Capitol and the White House, as he accused D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) of failing to keep the city clean.”

“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has signed an order authorizing National Guard troops deployed in Washington, D.C. to carry weapons if their mission requires it,” ABC News reports.