A Blueprint for Military Takeovers

Radio Atlantic

The Atlantic

Politics, Society & Culture, News

4.3 • 2.3K Ratings

🗓️ 28 August 2025

⏱️ 35 minutes

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Summary

President Donald Trump recently deployed the National Guard to Washington, D.C., and has talked about federalizing the Guard in other cities across the country. In this episode of Radio Atlantic we talk to Atlantic staff writers Quinta Jurecic and Nick Miroff about which legal barriers might hinder Trump from using the military this way, how he might try to push past the courts, and what role immigration enforcement is playing in the president’s plans. Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Atlantic subscribers also get access to exclusive subscriber audio in Apple Podcasts. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/listener. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:30.4	You look at Chicago, how bad it is. You look at Los Angeles, how bad it is. We have other cities that are very bad. New York has a problem. And then you have, of course, Baltimore and Oakland.
0:37.3	This is, of course, President Donald Trump, announcing the short list of cities that he's considering
0:42.9	sending federal troops to to help with their very bad problems.
0:48.0	Actually, the verb the press tends to use in relation to Trump is not announced, but muse.
0:53.9	As in this week, Trump mused that Chicago
0:57.4	was, quote, a killing field. Then he mused that he wasn't going to do anything about it,
1:02.1	unless Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker asked him to send in the troops. And then moments later,
1:07.9	we may just go in and do it, which is probably what we should do.
1:17.7	This is Radio Atlantic. I'm Hannah Rosen, coming to you from Washington, D.C., where federal officers and armed national guards have been patrolling our streets, to help us with what
1:22.8	Trump has declared our city's crime emergency. Now, D.C. is a special case. We'll get into that.
1:30.6	But there is no real precedent in American history for what Trump is musing about now,
1:36.3	which is routinely using the military for local law enforcement,
1:41.0	whenever he wants to, in whatever city catches his fancy.
1:47.1	This week, Trump signed a handful of executive orders trying to formalize that plan.
1:53.2	One, for example, directed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to create a specialized unit
	...

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