Overview
- Speaking aboard the USS George Washington at Yokosuka, Japan, the president told service members he was prepared to send more than the National Guard to enforce crime and immigration crackdowns.
- He asserted broad authority by saying the administration could “do as we want” on domestic deployments and claimed residents would not care which branch is used.
- National Guard units have been sent to several cities, while federal courts have blocked operations in Portland and Chicago as Democratic governors and attorneys general pursue lawsuits.
- Trump touted rapid crime drops in Memphis and vowed to move into other cities such as Chicago, offering no evidence for the claims.
- He defended recent maritime strikes targeting suspected drug smuggling, as the U.S. acknowledged more than a dozen attacks that killed 57 people and experts warned against using military force on civilians.