Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott: National Guard 'doesn't work' for reducing crime

Carson Swick, Baltimore Sun on Sep 7, 2025

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Mayor Brandon Scott said Sunday that President Donald Trump sending federal troops to Baltimore would not be effective for the city.

During Scott’s appearance on CNN’s “Inside Politics” Sunday morning, anchor Manu Raju noted that Baltimore is one of the country’s most violent cities and asked the mayor why he wouldn’t want Trump’s help to address crime.

“We understand those numbers, but we also understand that last year was another consecutive year of historic reductions in gun violence reductions in the City of Baltimore,” Scott told Raju. “And we know that the National Guard doesn’t work.”

Scott said that, so far in 2025, Baltimore has seen the “fewest number of homicides through this date on record” because of the city’s focus on gun policy through his Comprehensive Violence Prevention Plan — a strategy he said “we’re not going to shake from.”

“We know what works in Baltimore. We don’t need that kind of help,” Scott said.

Raju countered that Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser has credited the sense of “perceived accountability” from a boosted law enforcement presence with making the city safer since Trump deployed the National Guard there nearly a month ago.

Given Bowser’s experience, Raju asked Scott why he wouldn’t accept similar help for Baltimore. Scott said D.C. is “different” from other cities because it’s the nation’s capital and suggested businesses there are struggling because the heavy law enforcement presence discourages people from visiting.

“We understand, and we’ve laid out very clearly what the federal government can do to help us,” Scott replied. “They can restore the cuts to the programs that have helped us reduce this gun violence already in this city. They could come out and ban ghost guns and Glock switches.”

Raju pressed Scott on if he would sign an executive order encouraging Baltimore police to not cooperate with federal troops should they be deployed — as Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson did with his “Protect Chicago Initiative” amid similar threats from Trump.

Scott answered that the city will “look at every single option that we have on our table, legal and otherwise.” He added that “uncertainty” is a defining aspect of the Trump administration, so Baltimore must prepare for multiple different outcomes simultaneously.

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