“The president of the United States is not going out there forcing this on anybody, though we do think that we have the legal right to clean up America’s streets if we want to,” Vance said. “But what the president has said is, very simply, why don’t you invite us in?” 

Vance praised Trump’s intervention in Washington, arguing it had already produced results. “The national capital of the most powerful nation in the history of the world had a murder every other day,” he said. “Thank God Donald Trump did what he did, because armed robberies, carjackings, murders are down between 40 to 90%.” 

He noted that even Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser had publicly credited the surge with making neighborhoods safer. Bowser on Wednesday acknowledged that violent crime has “fallen sharply” since Trump ordered thousands of federal officers into the capital, saying she was “grateful for the added law enforcement presence” and noting carjackings were down 87%. But she has also criticized the decision to send Guard troops from Republican-led states and warned about immigrant families fearful of sweeps, stressing that her priority is keeping the federal surge focused on violent crime.

Vance cast her comments as proof the administration’s strategy is working, and contrasted them with Democratic leaders elsewhere. “Why is it that you have mayors and governors who are angrier about Donald Trump offering to help them than they are about the fact that their own residents are being carjacked and murdered in the streets? It doesn’t make an ounce of sense,” he said.

Wisconsin reporters asked him further on whether troops could come to Milwaukee, prompting Vance to reiterate that “we want governors and mayors to ask for the help.”

“Is Milwaukee a super safe city right now? It’s had some crime problems,” he said. “It’s a beautiful city. There are a lot of beautiful, incredible, hard-working people who live there, but let’s be honest, Milwaukee has had some crime problems. …

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson has flatly rejected the idea of Guard deployments, telling local reporters: “We don’t need the United States military … or boots on the ground in American cities. That’s not what their mission is.” 

Vance accused him of failing residents. “We would love to come in and help lock up those violent criminals,” he said. “I hope the mayor of Milwaukee gets some common sense and actually fights for her residents for a change, or his residents for a change, because we would love to actually help cut down on the crime in this community.”

Vance also accused Democrats of reflexively opposing Trump, even when it came to public safety. “We were having lunch yesterday, and the president said, ‘JD, I don’t know how I did it. I have actually got the Democrats to come out in defense of crime. And it is crazy,’” Vance recounted. “If Donald Trump came out tomorrow and said he really likes puppies, you would have AOC come out and say puppies are terrible.”

The sharp exchange on crime came as Vance was also in La Crosse to promote Republicans’ sweeping tax law, which party leaders are now branding as the “working families tax cut.” Speaking at a steel fabrication plant, he highlighted provisions eliminating taxes on tips and overtime pay, expanding the child tax credit, and lowering rates for small businesses.

“What the working families tax cuts did is very simple, it let you keep more money in your pocket. It rewarded you for building a business or working at a business right here in the United States of America,” Vance said. 

Since early August, Vance has barnstormed across key battlegrounds, including Georgia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, in an effort to shore up vulnerable Republicans and pressure Democratic incumbents. While he used Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” phrasing in Pennsylvania and Ohio, by late August in Georgia he had abandoned it entirely, leaning exclusively on the new label: the “Working Families Tax Cut.” 

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The La Crosse stop illustrated how Vance is weaving together the administration’s crime crackdown with its economic pitch. After sparring with reporters over the National Guard, he closed by returning to the tax law and broader Republican agenda. 

“We are every single day in Washington, D.C., fighting for you, for your jobs, your wages, lower taxes, and rural healthcare,” Vance said. “The most important thing the president can do is put the interests of Americans first … and that is what we’ll keep on doing for the next three and a half years.”