Trump Floats Idea Of Deploying National Guard To New Orleans

New Orleans, National Guard 

It’s become abundantly clear that the GOP’s vision for American life is turning it into the kind of authoritarian, oppressive regime that the CIA would’ve tried to overthrow in the Cold War. Having already deployed the National Guard in Washington, D.C., President Donald Trump has threatened to deploy the National Guard to New Orleans, keeping in line with his aspirations to be a Temu dictator. 

According to AP News, this is the first time President Donald Trump has threatened to deploy the National Guard to a red state. This isn’t due to Trump having a newfound sense of equality, but simply because New Orleans is a blue city in a red state. While New Orleans, like every American city, has its fair share of crime, data shows that violent crime has actually been trending downward throughout the year. In fact, the biggest crime story in New Orleans right now isn’t on the streets but in the mayor’s office.

Of course, the Trump administration won’t let pesky facts get in the way of terrorizing a predominantly Black city. 

“We’re making a determination now,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “Do we go to Chicago? 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’s become quite, you know, quite tough, quite bad.”

Trump has also threatened to deploy the National Guard to Baltimore and Chicago, despite the mayors and residents in both cities not wanting that. Trump has continually characterized Baltimore, Chicago, and New Orleans, all cities with Black mayors, as “lawless” despite data showing that crime rates have actually gone down across the board in these cities. 

President Trump has essentially used the National Guard as his own private police force. He deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles earlier this year as a result of widespread protests against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids. Last month, Trump deployed the National Guard to Washington, D.C. after a DOGE staffer was assaulted while trying to prevent a carjacking. 

The National Guard’s D.C. deployment hasn’t gone swimmingly. While the Trump administration touts that the deployment has led to 1,669 arrests, morale is reportedly low among the deployed National Guard members. The guardsmen are reportedly picking up trash, raking leaves, or just wandering popular tourist destinations. 

Making the deployment feel like an even bigger waste is that none of this is cheap. The National Guard deployment in D.C. costs $1 million a day. Many of the guardsmen are coming from out of state, so housing costs have made up a substantial part of that sum. This money could be spent on investing in embattled communities, improving infrastructure, expanding access to job training and mental health resources, and increasing access to public transportation. All of which would provide better opportunities for gainful employment and could help lower crime rates. 

But nah. Trump has to look like a big, strong man. So instead of actually improving economic conditions in America, the Trump administration would rather waste millions in taxpayer dollars terrorizing predominantly Black neighborhoods. 

SEE ALSO:

Residents In Historically Crime-Ridden Chicago Neighborhood Oppose Trump’s National Guard Threats

‘The Guard Is Not Needed’: Chicago Mayor Pushes Back On Trump’s National Guard Threat

Trump’s National Guard Deployment Is A Direct Attack On Black DC

Black D.C. Is The Stage For Trump’s Authoritarian Rehearsal