Trump Deploys Guards to D.C. and Chicago While Red States Get Free Disney Tickets
Florence Factson
Mockitor of Everything Ever
General Assignment Reporter
When the cities he targets aren’t even in the worst states for violence, it’s hard to spin this as a crime-fighting mission.
WASHINGTON — In recent announcements, Donald Trump has floated sending National Guard units into Washington, D.C. and Chicago, framing it as a crackdown on urban crime. But here’s the catch: many states with the highest murder and violent crime rates are being ignored and those states tend to lean Republican.
If the goal really was to “go where crime is worst,” the optics would demand deployments to states like Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee, and Arkansas. Yet those states remain off Trump’s list.
Let’s pull back the curtain. Below is a corrected “Where Guards Actually Belong” map and which state senators would theoretically have to approve (or protest) a federal insertion into their territories.
Top 10 States by Homicide / Violent Crime Rates
(Based on recent state-level crime & murder data; note: definitions and rankings shift year to year. Sources: Third Way’s “Two-Decade Red State Murder Problem,” CSG Justice Center, FBI compilations) Manhattan Institute+3Congress.gov+3CSG Justice Center+3
Here’s an illustrative list of 10 states often appearing near the top for homicide or violent crime, with their U.S. senators and party alignment.
| Rank* | State | Party Lean / Control | U.S. Senators (Party) | Notes / Why Guards “Should” Be There |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mississippi | Republican | Roger Wicker (R), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R) | Mississippi frequently leads in murder rates. Troops here would target a reliable red state. |
| 2 | Louisiana | Republican | Bill Cassidy (R), John Kennedy (R) | High homicide rates in New Orleans & rural parishes. |
| 3 | Alabama | Republican | Richard Shelby (R) (retiring), Katie Britt (R) | Cities like Birmingham & Mobile see extreme violence. |
| 4 | Tennessee | Republican | Marsha Blackburn (R), Bill Hagerty (R) | Memphis, Nashville are flashpoints. |
| 5 | Arkansas | Republican | John Boozman (R), Tom Cotton (R) | In 2024, had one of the nation’s highest violent crime rates. Axios |
| 6 | South Carolina | Republican | Lindsey Graham (R), Tim Scott (R) | Consistent top-10 in violent crime metrics. |
| 7 | Missouri | Republican | Josh Hawley (R), Eric Schmitt (R) | St. Louis and Kansas City dominate crime stats. |
| 8 | Georgia | Swing / Republican lean | Jon Ossoff (D), Raphael Warnock (D) | Some of the worst metro-level homicide rates in red counties. |
| 9 | New Mexico | Democratic | Martin Heinrich (D), Ben Ray Luján (D) | Frequently ranks high in per-capita violent crime. |
| 10 | Washington, D.C. | Federal district | (N/A Senate, but Congress oversight) | Because it’s under federal jurisdiction, it’s easier to deploy troops there; not truly comparable. |
* Ranking is illustrative—some states shift depending on whether you use murder rate, violent crime rate, or combined indexes.
What This Reveals
- Red States Dominate High-Crime Lists
According to Third Way and other analyses, states with top murder rates have been largely Republican for decades. Congress.gov+1
That means the areas most in need of aggressive intervention are politically aligned with Trump. Yet they get ignored. - Blue Cities in Red States Get Blamed
Many high-violence cities (Jackson, Birmingham, Memphis, St. Louis) are under Democratic local leadership, even though their states are Republican. That gives Trump a narrative: “I’m hitting the Democrats’ messes.” Axios+2The Guardian+2 - Federal Leverage in D.C. Makes It a Showpiece
Because D.C. is a federal territory, sending troops there doesn’t require negotiation with a governor. Same with partial federal jurisdiction over parts of Chicago. So it’s theatrically safer for Trump to stage there than in states that might resist. - Hypocrisy in “Law & Order” Posturing
If the argument is “we must go where crime is worst,” then top priority should be places on the above list, but Trump’s deployments suggest the priority is theater over logic.
Call-Outs & Snark
- The same people screaming that Chicago is “the worst” would be ignoring Jackson, MS where the murder rate is multiple times over.
- If Trump actually wanted to “deploy guards where crime is skyrocketing,” he’d be knocking on Boozman, Cotton, Shelby, Wicker, Cassidy, and Blackburn’s doors for approval rather than bypassing them.
- The omission isn’t accidental. It’s an act of political choreography.
