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President Donald Trump on Tuesday told reporters that he believes crime will be a major focus in the 2026 midterm elections, a theme he has hit on heavily in recent days to drum up support for his controversial “federalization” push in Washington, D.C.
Speaking Tuesday at a Cabinet meeting in the White House, Trump was asked about his push to “federalize” the nation’s capital by invoking the D.C. Home Rule Act to deploy hundreds of D.C. National Guard troops throughout the city — an effort he has suggested on more than one occasion should be adopted by some Democrat-led cities, including Chicago.
“I think crime is going to be the big thing,” Trump said, in regard to the 2026 midterm elections. The rest of his answer was unambiguous — if hyperbolic and lacking in specifics.
“The Republicans are the party that wants to stop crime,” he said. “We’re against crime.”
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“The Democrats like crime,” Trump continued, without providing any further explanation.
Trump’s remarks appear to be focused on Chicago and other Democrat-led U.S. cities where Trump has threatened, in recent weeks, to deploy the National Guard to “clean up” the cities.
Whether, in fact, he can do so, remains an open question — and one that experts have suggested could invite a litany of issues and legal challenges.
“It’s hard to believe what’s been accomplished in 12 days,” Trump told reporters of the last 12 days of his federalization effort.
Trump then turned to other issues that he suggested Democrats were weak on, including border security, rights for transgender persons, and “men playing women’s sports,” before veering into examples of specific sports.
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Trump’s remarks come amid his ongoing defense of his “federalization” of D.C., which began 12 days ago and involved temporarily taking control of the city’s police force, and deploying National Guard troops throughout the nation’s capital.
The president touted the success of his efforts on Tuesday, telling reporters, “If I were a Democrat — governor or mayor or anybody — I’d call up President Trump and say, ‘President Trump, we need your help. We saw what you’ve done in DC in a period of 12 days.'”
“This is 12 days. We haven’t even started. This is going to be so safe. It’ll be the safest place on earth,” he said.
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