(CNN) — As the Trump administration escalates its deployment of troops in the nation’s capital and vows similar moves elsewhere, leaders of largely Democratic cities across the country are pushing back.

From Boston to Los Angeles, President Donald Trump’s portrayal of the District of Columbia as a lawless wasteland to justify his military and law enforcement incursion is viewed as an opening salvo in a bid to undermine the autonomy of America’s biggest cities. On Friday, Trump promised to target Chicago next , then New York.

Many big city mayors, however, remain defiant, saying: Not so fast, Mr. President.

“Stop attacking our cities to hide your administration’s failures,” Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, a Democrat, said Tuesday, after Attorney General Pam Bondi threatened to prosecute l

See Full Page