Trump targets Chicago and New York as Hegseth orders weapons for DC troops

President plots expansion of crime crackdown as Pentagon chief says troops patrolling DC streets will be armed

Donald Trump has threatened to take his federal crackdown on crime and city cleanliness to New York and Chicago, as the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, ordered that national guard troops patrolling the streets of Washington DC under federal control will now be armed.

The US president talked to reporters in the Oval Office and said: When ready, we will start in Chicago ... Chicago is a mess." He added that then the administration will help with New York", amid the controversial and aggressive federal efforts to control leading Democratic-voting cities, each of which has a Black mayor.