Could Donald Trump Invoke the Insurrection Act? What We Know 

President Donald Trump said he is willing to invoke the Insurrection Act if necessary but does not believe conditions in U.S. cities currently warrant it.

“We have an Insurrection Act for a reason,” Trump told reporters Monday.

“If I had to enact it — I’d do that. If people were being killed, and courts were holding us up, or governors or mayors were holding us up.” He added that the federal government “has to make sure our cities are safe.”

The Insurrection Act of 1807 gives a president authority to deploy active-duty military forces within the United States if a state is unable to suppress an insurrection or is defying federal law. The law allows such action without a governor’s consent if violence prevents the enforcement of federal authority or threatens public order.

This is a breaking news article. Updates to follow.