Donald Trump has threatened to send up to 60,000 federal troops on to the streets of America as he branded Portland protesters 'anarchists' and the city's mayor 'pathetic'.
The president warned he will 'go into all of the cities' and singled out Detroit as another city facing 'problems' in an interview with Sean Hannity Thursday night.
'We'll go into all of the cities, any of the cities. We're ready. We'll put in 50,000, 60,000 people that really know what they're doing,' Trump said.
'And they're strong. They're tough and we can solve those problems so fast.'
Donald Trump threatened to send up to 60,000 federal troops on to the streets of America as he branded Portland protesters 'anarchists' and the city's mayor 'pathetic, an interview with Sean Hannity Thursday night
Trump hit out at Portland where federal agents have been on the ground for weeks and protesters and local officials are calling on them to leave the city.
He called the protesters 'anarchists' and praised agents for doing a 'great job' since they were deployed to the city.
'In Portland we had to go in as they're anarchists,' Trump blasted.
'That is a level people haven’t seen but they're anarchists.
'They were going wild for 51 days and we went in and they've done a great job. They were going to rip down the courthouse, a gorgeous federal courthouse. So we went in and we have been very, very strong.'
Trump then mocked Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler as 'pretty pathetic' after he joined in protests Wednesday night where he was confronted by angry protesters who dumped a bag full of shrapnel in front of him, before he was tear-gassed by federal agents.
Wheeler reacts after being exposed to tear gas fired by federal officers while attending a protest against police brutality and racial injustice in front of the Mark O. Hatfield US Courthouse on Wednesday
Police in riot gear gather in the streets of Chicago Thursday night as the city braces for federal troops after Trump warned he would send in 300 agents
A huge crowd of protesters cheered in celebration Thursday night (pictured) as Chicago announced plans to topple its Christopher Columbus statue
'We have this Mayor Wheeler who I think is also the police commissioner and he made a fool of himself,' Trump continued.
'He wanted wanted to be among the people so he went into the crowd and they knocked the hell out of him and that was the end of him. It was pretty pathetic.'
The president said he had offered help to all the cities: 'I've offered them all every one of them. We're offering them all - "let us go in and we''ll clean it up".'
He boasted he could 'solve these problems so fast' if only cities 'invited' him in.
'At some point, we have to do something much stronger than being invited in.'
Trump mocked Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler (center in mask) as 'pretty pathetic' after he joined in protests Wednesday night where he was tear-gassed by federal agents
The president said he wants to 'help all of them' and suggested Detroit could be next on his list.
'Detroit is having problems,' he said. 'They have a very good police chief in Detroit but they're having problems.'
Trump's warning that federal agents could be deployed to more cities comes his law and order takeover extended to Seattle Thursday when a Special Response Team was drafted in to stand by for duty in the city.
This came after Chicago geared up for a surge of federal agents after he threatened to send in the troops in the wake of a wave of violent crime rocking the cvity.
Officials in Portland are also pushing back against the federal agents, with a judge granting a temporary restraining order Thursday, banning them from arresting legal observers and journalists at protests.
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