Overview

• In a televised Cabinet meeting Tuesday, President Trump said he has “the right to do anything I want to do” as president and could deploy the National Guard if he deems cities “in danger.”
• He suggested for a second straight day that “a lot of people” would “rather have a dictator,” then maintained he is not a dictator.
• The administration has discussed sending Guard units to Chicago, Baltimore, San Francisco and New York, while armed Guard troops patrol Washington, D.C., following a recent executive order expanding Guard use described by critics.
• Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker publicly rejected Trump’s threat, saying, “No, Donald. You can’t do whatever you want,” and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore also pushed back.
• Legal analysts and opinion writers warned the statements and deployments fit an accelerating authoritarian pattern, noting Chicago’s violent crime has fallen and murders are down sharply since 2021.