PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia seems to have dodged the threat of being occupied by National Guard troops, even though the city was one of President Donald Trump’s favorite targets in his first term. What changed?
The president has sent National Guard troops to five U.S. cities and has suggested five more, but, so far, Philadelphia isn’t one of them.
In his first term, Trump included Philadelphia in a list of cities where he threatened to send troops. He famously singled the city out in a debate with Joe Biden in 2020, saying, “Bad things happen in Philadelphia.”
So, why has the city escaped his notice this time? There are many theories. Philadelphia City Councilmember Mark Squilla pointed to the city’s greatly improved public safety.
“So to say that you want to come in and make it safer when you see this large decline, it’s kind of a tough argument,” he said.
But that, of course, is true of Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles; Chicago, which had its safest summer in decades; and Portland, Oregon, where homicides are down by half.
Philadelphia City Council has been pretty hard on Trump, passing several resolutions condemning him for various policies. District Attorney Larry Krasner never misses a chance to take a swing. But Mayor Cherelle Parker steadfastly refuses to criticize the president, and many officials cite that as the reason they think the city has ducked the fate of peer cities that have drawn his ire.
“She’s probably thinking, why stick a needle in him?” theorized City Democratic Chair Bob Brady.
He also thinks it helps to have a Republican senator in Pennsylvania again (Dave McCormick). A related theory is that the president may not want to risk roiling a state that voted for him in 2024.
Pessimists, however, think the president is simply waiting to inflict maximum damage by sending troops next year, when the city is set to reap the benefits of 2026 celebrations for the nation’s 250th anniversary.
Needless to say, all of this is purely speculation. The president hasn’t given an explanation.