President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he leaves the White House in Washington, D.C., Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. (Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo)
Democratic state and local leaders, however, have frequently balked at Trump's crackdown as a form of "authoritarianism."
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, for example, declared in August that "we cannot incarcerate our way out of violence," while claiming the U.S. has an "addiction" to jailing criminals. Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker has characterized a potential National Guard presence on the streets as unnecessary, citing Chicago's slowing crime trends since the wildly violent 2020 era and promoting state investments in community violence intervention programs.
Amid left-wing outrage over Trump's crime crackdown plans, some Democratic governors have taken additional steps at the state level to snuff out crime in violent jurisdictions, Fox News Digital found.
"First, Democrats claimed there was no crime problem and mocked the American people for being concerned about their safety. But now that they’ve seen the tremendous results delivered by President Trump, they’re eager to mimic his success — the reality is, the American people benefit when the President’s agenda is implemented. Let this be a lesson to all Democrats, President Trump was right about everything!" White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital on Tuesday morning when asked about a trio of Democratic governors who have announced crime crackdown initiatives in recent days.
Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at a news conference in Oakland, Calif. (Jeff Chiu, File/AP photo)
In California, longtime Trump political foe Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the state's highway patrol would deploy new "crime suppression" teams to the state's massive cities seeing crime trends, including: San Diego, Inland Empire, Los Angeles, Central Valley, Sacramento, and the San Francisco Bay Area. The announcement followed a similar crime crackdown initiative in Oakland, Bakersfield, and San Bernardino, the governor said at the time.
"These operations will be targeted," Newsom said at a news conference back in August when making the announcement. "They'll be data-driven."
LIZ PEEK: TRUMP PRANKS DEMOCRATS INTO OPPOSING SOMETHING THEY'VE ALWAYS CLAIMED TO SUPPORT
Newsom's office pointed to data showing crime overall dropped in California in 2024, and that CHP's increased presence in the new jurisdictions was part of the governor's "next phase of his crime-fighting efforts."
President Donald Trump and Maryland Democratic Gov. Wes Moore (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images (left); MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Back in Maryland, Moore slammed Trump over federalizing D.C., calling it "deeply dangerous" before the pair got into spats over Baltimore's safety, which included Trump pouring cold water on Moore's potential future presidential run and threatening to pull federal funding to rebuild Baltimore's Francis Scott Key bridge after it collapsed in 2024.
The Democratic governor sent a letter to Trump in August inviting him to tour Baltimore, which the president rebuffed while telling Moore to "clean up this crime disaster."
Moore has defended that crime trends show Baltimore's safety has been increasing in recent years, including when announcing that state police will assist Baltimore police in public safety.
TRUMP SAYS HE COULD SEND THE NATIONAL GUARD TO MARYLAND TO ADDRESS CRIME
President Donald Trump speaks with members of law enforcement and National Guard soldiers, Aug. 21, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo)
"Because even though Baltimore City is seeing some of the most impressive crime drops in the entire country, the work is far from over. We can, and will, do more on public safety, because our people deserve nothing less," Moore said on Friday in a press release announcing the state police and Maryland Transportation Authority Police will aid Baltimore police with public safety efforts.
The additional police presence will target high-risk areas, and will "focus on providing a highly visible law enforcement presence to deter and prevent crime," according to the governor's press release.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Trump has celebrated the federalization of Washington, D.C.'s police force as a success, including notching zero homicides across a 13-day period in August, and the arrests of more than 2,000 suspects. The president has also lauded Democratic D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser for her assistance with the effort.
"We don’t have a crime problem in Washington anymore," Trump told reporters earlier in September of the crackdown. "And the mayor has been very helpful."
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dem-governors-suddenly-crack-down-crime-trumps-national-guard-threats-loom