Maryland Governor Wes Moore is making it clear he won’t back down after President Donald Trump suggested sending federal agents to crack down on what he called “out of control” crime in Baltimore.
Moore, a former military officer, framed his response as a commitment to protecting his state rather than engaging in political sparring.
Moore Returns from Italy and Addresses Trump’s Threats
Moore recently returned from a trip to Lake Como, Italy, where he and his wife Dawn stayed at a villa owned by actor George Clooney.
Despite the lavish getaway, Moore wasted no time focusing on the serious issues back home.
Speaking out against Trump’s comments about possibly deploying National Guard troops in cities like Baltimore, Chicago, and New Orleans, Moore stressed that as commander in chief of the Maryland National Guard, the president cannot federalize his state’s forces without consent.
“I Am a Soldier for Maryland”
Referring to his military background, Moore insisted that his loyalty is to the people of Maryland, not to political battles in Washington.
“When you’re coming after our people, people know that I’m a soldier, and I will fight for and protect our people,” Moore said.
“This is not about trying to fight Donald Trump. This is about me fighting for Marylanders.”
Crime Trends in Baltimore
Despite Trump’s portrayal of the city as a “hell hole,” crime statistics tell a more nuanced story.
Homicides in Baltimore have dropped 40 percent since 2020, with 68 murders reported as of July 1 this year—a 22 percent decrease compared with the previous year.
Non-fatal shootings have also fallen by 19 percent.
Still, Baltimore ranked sixth in the nation for murder rate per capita in 2024, at 34.8 per 100,000 residents.
By comparison, Washington, D.C., where Trump declared a crime emergency last month and deployed hundreds of National Guard troops, had a lower murder rate of 27.9 per 100,000 residents.
Trump Pushes for National Guard Deployment
Trump has publicly encouraged Governors Moore and J.B. Pritzker of Illinois to request federal troops to patrol their states’ largest cities.
He also emphasized that even if they don’t ask, he believes he has the authority to act unilaterally.
“If the Governor of Illinois would call me up, I would love to do it,” Trump said. “Now, we’re going to do it anyway.
We have the right to do it because I have an obligation to protect this country. And that includes Baltimore.”
Trump also criticized Moore directly, suggesting the governor had underestimated the severity of crime in the city.
“I saw where Gov. Moore was asking me to take a walk down the street of Baltimore. Well, Baltimore is a very unsafe place,” he said.