{"id":198890,"date":"2026-02-01T19:37:06","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T19:37:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/trump-says-dhs-wont-respond-to-protests-in-democratic-led-cities-until-they-ask-for-help-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2026-02-01T19:37:06","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T19:37:06","slug":"trump-says-dhs-wont-respond-to-protests-in-democratic-led-cities-until-they-ask-for-help-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/trump-says-dhs-wont-respond-to-protests-in-democratic-led-cities-until-they-ask-for-help-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump says DHS won't respond to protests in Democratic-led cities until they 'ask for help' – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

news Alerts
There are no new alerts at this time
President Donald Trump said Saturday that federal law enforcement will not respond to protests or riots in \u201cpoorly run” Democratic-led cities until support is requested, but will still protect federal property.
\u201cI have instructed Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, that under no circumstances are we going to participate in various poorly run Democrat Cities with regard to their Protests and\/or Riots unless, and until, they ask us for help,\u201d Trump wrote on Truth Social<\/a>.
\u201cWe will, however, guard, and very powerfully so, any and all Federal Buildings that are being attacked by these highly paid Lunatics, Agitators, and Insurrectionists,\u201d the post continued.
The president\u2019s statement comes just hours after a federal judge declined to immediately halt Operation Metro Surge<\/a> in Minneapolis, allowing the sweeping federal immigration enforcement action there to continue.
Trump said local governments are responsible for protecting state, local and federal property, writing that \u201cwe are there to protect Federal Property, only as a back up, in that it is Local and State Responsibility to do so.\u201d
\u201cThere will be no spitting in the faces of our Officers, there will be no punching or kicking the headlights of our cars, and there will be no rock or brick throwing at our vehicles, or at our Patriot Warriors,\u201d Trump said.
\u201cIf there is, those people will suffer an equal, or more, consequence,” the post continued.
The president was asked about that line by reporters onboard Air Force One Saturday night<\/a>, telling them that he said federal agents should be able to “do something back” if protesters engage with them.
“If they do anything bad to our people, they will be.. they will have to suffer,” Trump said.
“I said you’re allowed if somebody does that, you can do something back. You’re not going to stand there and take it if somebody spits in your face, that will not be a plesant thing for the person that spits,” the president continued. “If they throw bricks at a car, and you know, one of our vehicles … they’re going to be met with very, very serious force.”
Trump’s Truth Social post comes after local police said a riot<\/a> was declared at the federal building in Eugene, Oregon, on Friday night and that \u201cthere were breaches in entry points.\u201d Eugene Police Chief Chris Skinner said his officers intervened with the intent of de-escalating after protesters broke windows and tried to breach the building.
He said in a video statement<\/a> posted to social media that there was a report that someone or multiple people had made it inside but could not confirm that.
Trump referenced the incident in his post, writing, \u201cLast night in Eugene, Oregon, these criminals broke into a Federal Building, and did great damage, also scaring and harassing the hardworking employees.\u201d
\u201cLocal Police did nothing in order to stop it. We will not let that happen anymore!\u201d the president continued. \u201cIf Local Governments are unable to handle the Insurrectionists, Agitators, and Anarchists, we will immediately go to the location where such help is requested, and take care of the situation very easily and methodically.\u201d
Skinner said the federal building had few resources and Eugene police moved to create a barrier between protesters and the building to prevent entry. He said police left after more federal resources arrived on the scene.
Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act earlier this month<\/a> as tensions rose between protesters and federal authorities in the wake of Renee Good\u2019s death.
\u201cRemember that I stated, in the strongest of language, to BEWARE \u2014 ICE, Border Patrol or, if necessary, our Military, will be extremely powerful and tough in the protection of our Federal Property,\u201d the president wrote in his post on Saturday.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said she has discussed the possibility <\/a>of using the Insurrection Act with Trump, repeatedly telling reporters this month that it is not off the table.
\u201cHe certainly has the constitutional authority to utilize that,\u201d Noem told reporters outside the White House on Jan. 15.
President George H.W. Bush was the last to use the Insurrection Act, during the deadly 1992 Los Angeles riots<\/a>, following a request from the city\u2019s Democratic mayor and the state\u2019s Republican governor.
Invoking the Insurrection Act would give the military more freedom to perform law enforcement duties, such as conducting searches and making arrests.
Trump deployed the National Guard and Marines in Los Angeles during widespread protests in June, but officers were assigned a more limited role<\/a>, focused on protecting federal buildings and activities.
A federal judge in California found they actually did more than that in a September ruling, writing they violated the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which prohibits the president from using the military as a domestic police force without approval from Congress, except under special circumstances \u2014 such as an invocation of the Insurrection Act.
Kyla Guilfoil is a breaking news reporter on the politics team for NBC News Digital.
© 2026 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

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news AlertsThere are no new alerts at this timePresident Donald Trump said Saturday that federal law enforcement will not respond to protests or riots in \u201cpoorly run” Democratic-led cities until support is requested, but will still protect federal property.\u201cI have instructed Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, that under no circumstances are we going to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":198891,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-198890","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-us","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198890","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=198890"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198890\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=198890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=198890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=198890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}