President Donald Trump on Wednesday took credit for a massive deployment of National Guard troops and federal law enforcement officers to the nation’s capital, saying it offered a model to states on how to quell protests nationwide.
Trump argued that the massive show of force was responsible for protests in Washington and other cities turning more calm in recent days and repeated his criticism of governors who have not deployed their National Guard to the fullest.
It was a striking contrast to the harsh crackdowns outside the White House on Monday night, advocated by the president who wanted to make the aggressive action in the nation’s capital an example for the rest of the country, a senior White House official said Tuesday.
“You have to have a dominant force,” Trump told Fox New Radio on Wednesday. “We need law and order.” He quickly pivoted to the politics of the moment, adding, “You notice that all of these places that have problems, they’re not run by Republicans. They’re run by liberal Democrats.”
The Defense Department has drafted contingency plans for deploying active-duty military if needed. Pentagon documents reviewed by The Associated Press showed plans for soldiers from an Army division to protect the White House and other federal buildings if the security situation in the nation’s capital were to deteriorate and the National Guard could not secure the facilities.
But interest in exerting that extraordinary federal authority appeared to be waning in the White House. Though the crackdown on the Washington demonstrations was praised by some Trump supporters Tuesday, a handful of Republicans expressed concern that law enforcement officers risked violating the protesters’ First Amendment rights.