U.S. President Trump wearing a hat that says "Trump was right about everything" [AFP=Yonhap News]

(Seoul=Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Yong-rae = U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that he will consider deploying the National Guard to other major cities such as Chicago and New York, in addition to Los Angeles (LA) and the capital, Washington D.C.

Chicago and New York, mentioned by President Trump, are both led by mayors from the Democratic Party, and Trump has criticized the public order and city administration of these two cities multiple times.

According to U.S. media outlets such as Politico and Bloomberg, President Trump told reporters on the 22nd (local time), "I'm going to make the cities very safe," adding, "Chicago is a mess, and the mayor is very incompetent. We'll probably fix that next. It's not that hard."

He then mentioned New York, in addition to Chicago, as a place that might need the assistance of the National Guard.

President Trump emphasized that the National Guard deployed in Washington D.C. "is doing a great job working with the police," and stated, "After we do this, we'll go into other areas and make them safe."

The National Guard is an armed force maintained by each state government in the United States, or by autonomous governments of administrative units equivalent to states, such as Washington D.C. In times of emergency, the federal government can command them. However, U.S. federal law strictly limits the deployment of troops for civilian law enforcement duties, except in cases specified by the Constitution or federal law, which is expected to cause controversy.

In June, President Trump deployed a large number of National Guard troops under the pretext of responding to protests against illegal immigration crackdowns in LA. This was the first time since 1965 that a U.S. president exercised command over the National Guard without the consent of the state governor.

Subsequently, California filed a lawsuit against the federal government, and legal disputes are ongoing, with conflicting rulings from the first and appellate courts.

The Trump administration has since deployed the National Guard to the capital, Washington D.C., and has continued actions that infringe upon the unique public security duties of local governments, such as the federal government taking over command of the D.C. Police Department.

Upon learning of President Trump's remarks that day, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson stated that he had not received any official notification from the federal government and criticized it as "an inappropriate action that was neither discussed nor requested in advance," adding that "unlawfully deploying the National Guard to Chicago could provoke tensions between residents and law enforcement agencies."

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker also vehemently criticized President Trump, saying, "Trump used LA and Washington D.C. as testing grounds for his authoritarian actions, and now he is openly revealing his intention to take control of other states and cities."

yonglae@yna.co.kr

 National Guard troops deployed in downtown Washington D.C. [Getty Images/AFP=Yonhap News file photo]

(End)