WATCH: Trump Celebrates Making Washington, DC a “Safe Zone”, Says “We’re Going in” on Chicago and Threatens Baltimore – “This isn’t a Political Thing. I Have an Obligation”

President Trump on Tuesday told reporters that he is “going in” with National Guard troops to Chicago, whether Illinois Governor JB Pritzker wants him to or not.

“If the governor of Illinois would call me up, I would love to do it. Now, we’re going to do it anyway,” the President told reporters when asked if he has “decided to definitely send National Guard troops to Chicago.”

“We have the right to do it because I have an obligation to protect this country,” he added.

This comes as President Trump plans federal law enforcement operations and potential National Guard deployment in the Windy City after at least 14 were killed and nearly 100 injured in shootings over the last two weekends.

He also took a shot at Maryland Governor Wes Moore and the city of Baltimore. The two have traded barbs over the last couple of weeks, with Moore inviting the President to walk the crime-ridden streets of Baltimore with him and demanding that the President “keep our name out your mouth.”

Trump previously responded, saying, “if Wes Moore needs help, like Gavin Newscum did in L.A., I will send in the ‘troops,’ which is being done in nearby DC, and quickly clean up the Crime. After only one week, there is NO CRIME AND NO MURDER IN DC! When it is like that in Baltimore, I will proudly “walk the streets” with the failing, because of Crime, Governor of Maryland.”

He told reporters on Tuesday “I would love to have I would say Governor Moore call, because I watched him over the weekend trying to explain that Baltimore, what they need is housing. No, they don’t need housing. They need to get rid of the criminals.”

Trump also championed his crackdown on crime in Washington, DC, declaring the city a “safe zone” after arresting more than 1,600 criminals “that will not be coming back anytime soon,” he said.

Watch below:

Trump: We’re going in. I didn’t say when we’re going in. When you lose— look, I have an obligation. This isn’t a political thing. I have an obligation when we lose— when 20 people are killed over the last two and a half weeks, and 75 are shot with bullets. So, let me tell you a little story about a place called DC, District of Columbia, right here, where we are. It’s now a safe zone. We have no crime. It’s in such great shape. You can go and actually walk with your children, your wife, your husband, you can walk right down the middle of the street, you’re not going to be shot, Peter, you’re safe. Everyone likes you anyway. They probably wouldn’t do it.

But it’s so dangerous, and there are people in this audience that have— you’ve suffered greatly. There are people in this audience that have been mugged and hurt badly, and they don’t want to talk about it. Maybe you were very brave in talking about it. You made quite an impression on a lot of people. I appreciate it. But there were other people in this room that have been hurt very badly just walking down the street in DC. Washington, DC, is a safe zone right now. It’s a safe city. The restaurants are open. They’re booming. You can’t get a restaurant. New restaurants are announcing that they’re going to be open. This took place in 12 days. Now it’s 15 days, but three days ago, it became what’s known as a safe zone. It’s a safe city. And this city was really bad, really, really bad. We took 1,600 people out, hard core criminals that will not be coming back anytime soon, and we’re very proud of it.

You know, to have our nation’s capital lose, every week, you know, it was like years, many years, where every single week somebody was killed for many, many, many consecutive weeks. This went on for years, and then we had, last week, it was announced that nobody was killed last week. And I made that announcement in front of a very distinguished leader of a country. And I’m saying proudly, ladies and gentlemen, nobody was killed in Washington, DC this week. He looked at me like, what’s that all about? I say, yeah, we have a little bit of a crime problem. And we don’t have a crime problem in Washington anymore, and the mayor has been very helpful, and the police commission has been very helpful, and it’s been a great team. And I would love to have Governor Pritzker call me—I’d gain respect for him— and say, we do have a problem, and we’d love you to send in the troops because, you know what, the people, they have to be protected.

I saw it today on one of your networks, not a friendly network— really, the opposite, I would say, very unfriendly network. And they interviewed about 12 people this morning. Most of them were African American, who were black, and they were saying, please, please, please, let the President send in— these were people from Chicago: “Please. We need help. We need help. We can’t walk outside. We’re petrified.” If the governor of Illinois would call me up, I would love to do it. Now, we’re going to do it anyway. We have the right to do it because I have an obligation to protect this country, and that includes Baltimore. I saw where Governor Moore was asking me to take a walk down the street of Baltimore. Well, Baltimore is a very unsafe place. It’s rated number four in the city, one of the worst, one of the most unsafe places anywhere in the world.

The post WATCH: Trump Celebrates Making Washington, DC a “Safe Zone”, Says “We’re Going in” on Chicago and Threatens Baltimore – “This isn’t a Political Thing. I Have an Obligation” appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.