The Broader Reasons for Trump’s Urban Crackdown

“We’re not going to lose our cities over this. This will go further. We’re starting very strongly with D.C., and we’re going to clean it up real quick.” — President Donald Trump, August 11, 2025

For nearly three months, National Guard troops have been deployed in cities across the U.S., including Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Memphis, Chicago, and Portland. Despite near-universal opposition from the Democrat city leaders, the deployments will continue, and more cities are expected to follow.

There are obvious motivations for these deployments that go well beyond politics and well beyond the ongoing, alarming rates of violent crime and theft. Even the need to protect federal buildings and ICE officers does not fully explain the compelling reasons to surge federal law enforcement and the National Guard into American cities.

Behind unacceptable crime rates and coordinated rioting, there is now a much greater threat, one that is beyond the power of local or state law enforcement. America is being systematically corrupted by foreign crime organizations. These gangs not only have access to staggering profits from drugs and human trafficking, but they have also formed partnerships and gained access to the resources of hostile nations.

To understand how serious this problem has become, consider the financial resources these criminal organizations wield. According to the Department of Homeland Security, roughly $20 to $30 billion in cash from drug sales travels annually from the U.S. into Mexico. But drugs are not the only source of income for these organizations.