In a Fox News telephone interview, Trump began by saying he was ready to send “50,000, 60,000 people” to American cities.
But he eventually raised the number to 75,000, but said he would require local authorities to ask for help.
“We have to be invited. At some point we will have to do something much stronger than being invited,” Trump said.
“We will go to all the cities, to any of the cities. We are ready,” he added.
The deployment of 75,000 officers would mark a significant portion of all federal officers in the country. According to a 2019 report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, there were approximately 100,000 federal law enforcement officers across the United States in 2016, the last year for which data was available.
Trump’s comments come as he has tried to make federal police a campaign issue, portraying cities as violent and out of control in an appeal to suburban residents. The president said Wednesday that he “will increase” federal law enforcement officers to Chicago and other American cities, despite resistance from local leaders, while adopting a hard-line “law and order” mantle before November elections.
The Trump campaign has become increasingly obscure themes of violence and chaos as it seeks to falsely paint Democratic rival Joe Biden as anti-police. Since protests spread across the country following the murder of George Floyd, Trump has worked to cultivate a tough anti-crime message that includes ongoing federal law enforcement efforts.
Earlier Thursday, Trump turned to Twitter to address “The Suburban Housewives of America,” warning that “Biden will destroy his neighborhood and his American dream. I will preserve it and make it even better!”
During Thursday’s Fox News interview, Trump suggested that he had recently spoken to Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, a Democrat who resisted Trump’s warnings that he would send federal officials to his city.
She called it a “big talk,” but said she and other Democratic leaders were resistant to his offers of help.
“They don’t want to ask,” he said. “That is a misfortune.”
Chicago is not the only city that could face a greater presence of the federal police. Officials from the Department of Homeland Security told CNN on Thursday that a team of Customs and Border Protection will head to Seattle, where it will remain on standby to help protect federal facilities.
Masked and camouflaged federal authorities without identification showing their rank and name have already arrested protesters in Portland, Oregon, as part of the President’s demand that federal buildings be protected from protesters, prompting a backlash from officials local. DHS officials said officers were identified by the agency’s insignia and a “police” tag on their uniforms.
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