Testifying in favor of the National Firearms Act in 1934, Attorney General Homer S. Cummings readily conceded that the federal government had "no inherent police powers to go into certain localities and deal with local crime." Yet that is precisely what President Donald Trump says he is prepared to do by deploying the National Guard in cities such as Chicago, New York, and Baltimore.
That plan goes far beyond Trump's anti-crime campaign in Washington, D.C., a federally controlled jurisdiction where he has asserted his authority over the local National Guard and police department. Trump is now claiming he can use the National Guard to tackle crime anywhere he deems it necessary, even without the consent of state or local officials.
"I am not a dictator," Trump declared during a televised Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. He nevertheless asserted that, when it comes to fighting crime, he has "the right to do anything I want to do," because "I'm the president of the United States." In his view, that means "if I think our country is in danger—and it is in danger in these cities—I can do it."
