(Washington) Donald Trump threatened to send National Guard troops to San Francisco, as he did in other major American cities run by Democrats, during a television interview broadcast on Sunday.
“We are going to go to San Francisco,” the American president replied to a Fox News journalist who asked him if this Californian city would be next on his list.
Since his return to power, Donald Trump has sent soldiers to Los Angeles, Washington and Memphis against the advice of local Democratic authorities to, according to him, fight against illegal immigration and crime, actions strongly criticized by the opposition.
Its deployments in Chicago and Portland were suspended by judges, who argued for the lack of credible elements justifying such a measure.
“The difference (with Chicago) is that in San Francisco, they want us,” assured the Republican president on Sunday, without detailing what he meant by that.
The CEO of San Francisco-based IT giant Salesforce, Marc Benioff, recently said he believed the military should be deployed to the city, but Democratic Mayor Daniel Lurie and other local officials have expressed opposition to such a move.
Since then, Marc Benioff has retracted and apologized.
Donald Trump also reiterated on Sunday his threat to use a state of emergency to continue these deployments criticized by the opposition and civil rights organizations.
“Remember, I can use the Insurrection Act,” he said, referring to a set of ancient laws authorizing the use of armed forces against American citizens.
The National Guardsmen, army reservists, are trained to respond to natural disaster situations but they can also fight abroad.
At the end of September, Donald Trump told American generals and admirals that “some of these dangerous cities” could be used “as training grounds” for the military.
