Topline
President Donald Trump threatened to deploy National Guard troops to Baltimore after Maryland Gov. Wes Moore invited him to walk the streets of the city with him, lashing out after the Democrat boasted of falling crime in the city while also implying he could halt federal funds sent to repair the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed in 2024.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore previously invited President Donald Trump to walk the streets of Baltimore with him.
TNS
Key Facts
On Thursday, Moore invited Trump to participate in one of his “public safety walks” in Baltimore, alongside the city’s mayor, state’s attorney, and law enforcement officials, insisting “grassroots leaders must play an active role in decision-making, rather than being relegated to talking points deployed in backroom, partisan debates.”
But Trump lashed out at the suggestion, writing on Truth Social, “as President, I would much prefer that he clean up this Crime disaster before I go there for a ‘walk,’” later calling Moore “the failing, because of Crime, Governor of Maryland.”
He then suggested if Moore needs “help,” he “will send in the “troops,” which is being done in nearby DC, and quickly clean up the Crime,” and suggested Moore is not releasing accurate crime figures.
Crucial Quote
“Also, I gave Wes Moore a lot of money to fix his demolished bridge,” Trump said in the Truth Social post, then asking “I will now have to rethink that decision???” (The Key Bridge collapsed after being struck by a container ship in March 2024, and its reconstruction has been funded by the federal government by a continuing resolution passed in December, before Trump took office.)
Chief Critic
“This is a community that does not look at Baltimore like a punchline, but looks at Baltimore as a source of inspiration,” Moore said at a press conference last week after inviting Trump to visit the city. “And so I do want to be very clear. If you were not willing to be part of the solution, keep our names out of your mouth. Specifically, Donald Trump, if you are not willing to walk our communities, keep our name out of your mouth.”
Is Crime Rising In Baltimore?
Although Baltimore has faced notoriously high violent crime rates for years, local leaders say they are making significant strides in fighting crime. “Maryland has had amongst the fastest drops in violent crime in anywhere in the United States in the past two and a half years, the homicide rate is down over 20% since I have been the governor, and the last time the homicide rate was this low in Baltimore city, I was not born yet,” Moore told CBS News’ Margaret Brennan on Sunday morning, later insisting that Trump simply “seems to enjoy living in this blissful ignorance, these tropes and these 1980s scare tactics.” But Trump claimed that Moore had a “very bad” record on fighting crime, noting that Baltimore was ranked “4th WORST CITY IN THE NATION IN CRIME & MURDER.” The president was most likely referring to the murder rate reported by the FBI crime data, which found the city had a murder rate of 35.2 per 100,000 residents in 2024—the fourth worst in the nation. However, Baltimore Mayor Brendan Scott has touted positive statistics for the year so far. Baltimore has seen a 23.6% decline in homicides compared to this time in 2024, Scott’s office said in a statement in June. In April, the city saw five homicides—the lowest number of murders in the city for any month on record. Scott has previously rejected the idea of deploying National Guard troops to the city, but asked the president to work to restore funds for community violence prevention efforts and additional resources for its FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Drug Enforcement Administration field offices.
Key Background
In June, Trump took control of the California National Guard to respond to ongoing protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in Los Angeles, quickly sending some 4,000 troops to the city. He then further deployed roughly 700 Marines from a nearby base, before withdrawing the troops after the protests died down. In August, the president declared a public safety emergency in Washington, D.C., due to violent crime, despite data from the Metropolitan Police Department showing crime falling after a spike in 2023. He then used provisions in D.C.’s Home Rule Act to temporarily take control of the city’s MPD. Trump also deployed National Guard troops to the city, whose ranks have since been bolstered with troops from Republican-led states. Last week, Trump floated the idea of deploying troops to other cities, claiming that Chicago was “probably next.”
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacharyfolk/2025/08/24/trump-threatens-baltimore-with-national-guard-troops-after-maryland-gov-asks-him-to-walk-in-city/
