President Donald Trump on Sunday warned Democratic leaders he will invoke the Insurrection Act and tap into “unquestioned power,” if Dems continue pushing back on his use of the National Guard to fight crime and his use of ICE and Border Patrol agents to deport illegal immigrants.
The president told Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo, during an interview on Sunday Morning Futures, that he would prefer not to use the act. But if politicians like Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) keep verbally and legally battling him on his mission to reduce crime and illegal immigration, he will have no choice.
“Don’t forget, I can use the Insurrection Act. Fifty percent of the presidents almost have used that. And that’s unquestioned power,” Trump said. “I choose not to, I’d rather do this. But I’m met constantly by fake politicians — politicians who think, it’s not like part of the radical-left movement to have safety. These cities have to be safe.”
He continued: “Our cities that are Democrat-run — exclusively, just about — are unsafe cities. They’re a disaster.”
The president’s 50% claim is not correct — it has been used by 15 presidents (out of 45) and has been invoked 30 times. The act is usually invoked in response to civil unrest, rebellions, and other crises.
It was most recently used by President George H.W. Bush in 1992, when he
Trump’s comment on Sunday comes a few weeks after NBC reported Trump was “seriously” considering invoking the act to more easily deploy National Guard troops to major cities.
The president’s consideration comes as he has deployed thousands of National Guard troops to cities like Chicago in recent months. Those moves have been met with major pushback from Democratic politicians like Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D), who both sued the president earlier this month to stop him from deploying troops.
Pritzker has also accused Trump of “inciting” Chicago residents to violence against federal agents on multiple occasions.
Trump, during his interview on Sunday, called Pritzker a “dope” and said he should be begging for troops to come to Chicago.
In other major news from Trump’s interview with Bartiromo, he said trade negotiations with China are “going fine” and that he still plans on meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping early next month. The president also took a moment to bash Richard Nixon, saying the ex-president “unleashed” China on the world and created a “very strong adversary” when he established relations with China’s communist government back in 1972.
You can watch his answer about the Insurrection Act above, via Fox News.