WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump has threatened to deploy troops to Baltimore, escalating a clash with Maryland Governor Wes Moore after the Democrat invited him to join a "safety walk" in the city.

"If Wes Moore needs help, like Gavin Newscum did in L.A., I will send in the 'troops,' which is being done in nearby DC, and quickly clean up the Crime," Trump wrote on social media.

The comments mark the latest flashpoint in the president's efforts to deploy National Guard troops to Democratic-led cities as part of what he calls a crackdown on crime.

The use of military personnel for domestic law enforcement has drawn fierce backlash from Democrats. One governor described it as an "abuse of power".

Trump has already deployed around 2,000 troops to Washington DC, a Democratic stronghold.

On Sunday, the Guard started to carry weapons in Washington, the military said. Previously, their weapons were available if needed but kept in the armoury.

A statement from the Joint Task Force said they were only to be used as a last resort.

As many as 1,700 troops are expected to mobilise in 19 states in the coming weeks, US media report.

Governor Moore, a frequent critic of the president's strategy, said Trump's comments about fighting crime "come off as so, so tone deaf and so ignorant".

"It's because they have not walked our streets," Moore said. "They have not been in our communities, and they are more than happy to keep making these repeated tropes about us."

Trump's Sunday Truth Social comments appeared to be a direct response to Moore's invitation letter to Trump which the president described as "nasty" and "provocative".

"As President, I would much prefer that he clean up this Crime disaster before I go there for a 'walk,'" Trump wrote.

The White House says hundreds of arrests have been made since the operation began in Washington DC.

Speaking in the White House Oval Office on Friday, Trump said the mission had brought "total safety" to Washington.

"DC was a hellhole," he said. "But now it's safe."

According to crime figures published by Washington DC's Metropolitan Police (MPDC), violent offences fell after peaking in 2023 and in 2024 hit their lowest level in 30 years.

They are continuing to fall, according to preliminary data for 2025.

Violent crime overall is down 26% this year compared to the same point in 2024, and robbery is down 28%, according to the MPDC.

Trump has suggested he would deploy troops in New York and Chicago as well.

This escalation has led to condemnation from Democrats leaders of other states and cities including Illinois Governor JB Pritzker who said Trump's threats to deploy troops to Chicago is an abuse of power.

Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has also weighed in, asserting that Trump lacks the legal authority to dispatch troops to cities like Baltimore and Chicago.

He said the president was exploiting reduced crime levels — like Baltimore's "fewest homicides in over 50 years" — to manufacture a crisis.

A poll conducted by the Washington Post and Schar School released earlier this week found the deployment deeply unpopular among the city's residents, with almost 80% saying they were opposed to both the deployment of federal officers and the National Guard, as well as the takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department. — BBC