SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:
President Trump threatened this past week to deploy more troops throughout the country as part of what he describes as a crackdown on crime. He spoke to US troops in Japan and argued he has to do this to save American cities.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We're sending in our National Guard, and if we need more than the National Guard, we'll send more than the National Guard because we're going to have safe cities. We're not going to have people killed in our cities. And whether people like that or not, that's what we're doing.
PFEIFFER: Some previous deployments to Democratic-led cities have spurred protests and lawsuits, but Trump is betting these moves will help him and Republicans, especially in next year's midterms. NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez looks into why.
FRANCO ORDOÑEZ, BYLINE: President Trump made a rare visit this summer to the White House briefing room to announce he was deploying hundreds of national guard troops to Washington, D.C. And he told a story about growing up in New York City and going out to eat with his late father, Fred Trump.
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TRUMP: He used to say, son, when you walk into a restaurant and you see a dirty front door, don't go in, because if the front door is dirty, the kitchen's dirty also.
ORDOÑEZ: Ignoring the fact that violent crime in Washington, D.C., is at a 30-year low, Trump promised to crack down on the, quote, "bloodthirsty criminals," clean up trash and clear out the homelessness. He appeared to be evangelizing the widely criticized broken windows theory, which contends that failing to address smaller problems like smashed windows leads to bigger problems and more serious crimes.
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TRUMP: Same thing with the Capitol. If our capital's dirty, our whole country is dirty.
ORDOÑEZ: But what started out as a focused effort in Washington, D.C., has since transformed into a nationwide campaign to present Trump and the Republicans as unabashed crime fighters, while painting Democrats as coddlers of crime. Trump has now deployed troops to Los Angeles, Chicago, Memphis, Tennessee, and Portland, Oregon.
Democrats have cried foul. Leaders have accused the White House of launching an illegal military occupation. Meanwhile, Trump says Democrats have fallen into a political trap that will only pay off for Republicans in next year's midterm elections.
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TRUMP: But I would say that crime is stronger than men playing in women's sports. I think it's stronger than transgender for everybody. You know, transgender for everybody, according to them - it's stronger. Of course, it's - this is the cause of it - open borders.
ORDOÑEZ: Jillian Snider of the Council on Criminal Justice and a retired New York police officer says Trump has tapped into one of the most basic quality-of-life issues. Crime shouldn't be looked at through partisan lines, she says. If people don't feel safe, they don't feel safe, no matter what anyone tells them.
JILLIAN SNIDER: That is the real problem here, that general community members - they don't care as much to be schooled by what the stats show us. They just care about how they feel in their communities (ph).
ORDOÑEZ: And the political data points to a clear opportunity for Trump and the Republicans. A new Gallup poll released this week shows almost half of Americans - 49% - feel that crime has risen from last year, while about a third - or 33% - feel crime has gone down. The FBI says actual violent crime has decreased by 4.5% last year.
The Gallup poll also cites some risks for Trump. More Americans oppose using federal troops to combat domestic crime, but the divide is largely along political lines, as Republicans overwhelmingly support the use of troops while Democrats are opposed.
ALEX CONANT: Trump views cracking down on crime as a huge political winner, and historically, he's right.
ORDOÑEZ: Veteran political strategist Alex Conant says Republicans have long leaned into law and order. But Trump embraces it in an unprecedented way, when you look at troops in cities.
CONANT: But it's hard to argue that it's not a political winner form with independents, suburban voters and his base, you know, the very people that elected him.
ORDOÑEZ: And he says, while Democrats don't want to condone Trump's policies, they need to be careful how they condemn the actions, especially if they lead to voters feeling safer. Franco Ordoñez, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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