President Donald Trump said Atlanta may need federal help to address crime, including the possible use of the National Guard, during a White House Black History Month event on Feb. 18. His remarks echoed his administration’s broader push to expand federal law-enforcement and Guard deployments in several U.S. cities, moves that have drawn legal and political resistance.
On Wednesday, Feb. 18, President Donald Trump used a White House Black History Month reception to suggest Atlanta could be the next city to receive a federal crime-response surge, including a possible National Guard deployment.
“You need help in Atlanta,” Trump told the crowd in the East Room, according to an account published by The Daily Wire. He added, “Atlanta. Atlanta. We could take care of Atlanta. I’ll tell you what, you oughta get them to call me. We could take care of Atlanta so fast.”
Trump criticized local officials for not requesting federal assistance. “They don’t want to call. They don’t want to. They don’t want to call cause they don’t want to admit it, and they’ll never fix it themself,” he said, as quoted by The Daily Wire.
He also described an enforcement strategy centered on removing repeat offenders, including through deportation. In the remarks as reported by The Daily Wire, Trump said his administration does not simply “go in” but “move people out,” adding that it targets “career criminals.” The Daily Wire account also attributes to Trump a claim that “90% of the crime is caused by 2% of the people.” No independent supporting evidence for that statistical claim was cited in the materials reviewed.
Trump’s comments come amid mixed crime trends in Atlanta. In a Jan. 21 report, CBS News Atlanta cited Atlanta Police Department data and officials saying homicides fell in 2025—under 100 for the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic—while aggravated assaults rose to more than 3,000 and robberies also increased.
The Atlanta city government did not immediately respond to an inquiry about Trump’s remarks, The Daily Wire reported.
More broadly, Trump has in recent months tied his crime agenda to National Guard deployments and federal law-enforcement surges in multiple jurisdictions. The Associated Press reported that Trump signed an order on Sept. 15, 2025, to deploy the National Guard to Memphis as part of a federal crime initiative involving agencies such as the FBI, DEA, ICE and the U.S. Marshals Service. The Associated Press also reported that National Guard troops were deployed in New Orleans, where local officials had raised concerns about the necessity and appropriate role of troops.
On Dec. 31, 2025, Trump said he was ending National Guard deployments in Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland. In that Truth Social post, he claimed crime “has been greatly reduced” by the troops’ presence and wrote, “Portland, Los Angeles, and Chicago were GONE if it weren’t for the Federal Government stepping in.” Other outlets covering the same announcement, including The Washington Post, reported that Trump’s claims of crime reduction were not supported by data and noted the decision followed major legal setbacks to his authority to keep the Guard deployed.
Separately, The Daily Wire reported that Trump planned a trip to Rome, Georgia, for an economy-focused address tied to a special election in Georgia’s 14th Congressional District following the resignation of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. Publicly available election information indicates the special election is set for March 10, 2026, with a runoff scheduled for April 7 if no candidate wins a majority.
