PHILADELPHIA — Hours after President Donald Trump suggested that the military use American cities as “training grounds,” Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker stared down a row of cameras at an unrelated news conference. A reporter wanted to know her response to the president.

Parker said she was proud to support young people training for the armed services through programs like ROTC.

No, the reporter explained, the president wants to send troops to cities to practice warfare.

The mayor dodged again. “We have used an intergovernmental approach to ensure public health and safety in our city,” she said, “and we will continue doing so.”

Parker’s nonanswer followed a now-familiar pattern that is uncommon among other Democrats: She has gone to great lengths to avoid confrontation with Trump since he took office in January. And she is not straying from the tactic, even as Trump has deployed troops to other American cities against the will of their Democratic mayors.

As Trump has targeted Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, and Portland, Ore., for National Guard deployments, he has not publicly brought up Philadelphia. His administration has not filed a lawsuit against the city over its immigration policies, despite suing other jurisdictions with similar practices of not sharing some information with federal enforcement. And while the president has slammed mayors from other Democratic-run cities, he has not mentioned Parker.

It’s a notable omission for Trump, who has in the past fixated on deep-blue Philadelphia as a place where “bad things happen.”

Some of Parker’s supporters say the fact that Trump’s focus is elsewhere is evidence that her quiet strategy is working, and those close to her say her restraint is deliberate.

She has avoided taking on a president who has made commonplace of seeking revenge against political opponents. Parker’s administration stopped referring to Philadelphia as a “sanctuary city,” instead calling it a “welcoming city,” as federal authorities bear down on such jurisdictions. And the mayor has maintained relationships in Washington, including with Republicans, as she tries to steer clear of negative attention from the White House.

“Mayor Parker’s approach is what steady, disciplined leadership looks like,” said Kyle Darby, a lobbyist who has worked in both Philadelphia and Washington. “Being loudly outspoken for certain populations is what some people want to hear, but right now in this climate, it’s not always helpful, especially when you’re the head of a city and any repercussions can affect millions of people.”

Parker’s approach is dramatically different from others in her party.

In Chicago, for example, Democrats have loudly decried the Trump administration’s immigration tactics and sued over the National Guard mobilization. In return, Trump last week called for Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker to be jailed.

Locally, District Attorney Larry Krasner regularly calls Trump a “fascist” and hosted town halls about a potential military deployment. City Council has passed 15 resolutions criticizing Trump and the White House. Even the centrist Council President Kenyatta Johnson recently suggested taking legal action against the Trump administration.

Last week, Gov. Josh Shapiro, widely considered a 2028 presidential contender, signed onto a national lawsuit over the Guard deployments in other states. And Parker’s predecessor, former Mayor Jim Kenney, often made no secret of his disdain for Trump during the president’s first term.

But Parker has been steadfast, refusing to comment on hypotheticals or threats despite mounting pressure — especially from activists and the political left — to do so before the president may turn his attention here.

“We are living in actual fascism,” said City Council member Nicolas O’Rourke, of the progressive Working Families Party. “When you have someone moving like that, you do need to be proactive.”

He added: “It’s clear the mayor is being calculating. That is not the tactic I would take. I think we need to be more pronounced.”

A spokesperson for Parker declined to comment.

Parker says she’s prioritizing funding over politics

It has long been challenging to place Parker on the traditional left-right ideological spectrum.

During her historic 2023 campaign to be elected Philadelphia’s first female mayor, Parker, a lifelong Democrat, ran as a tough-on-crime candidate and rejected some progressive ideals as out of touch. She often touted her experience working with Republicans in her former role as a state representative.

A year into her first term, Trump took office for the second time. Parker immediately expressed openness to collaborating with his administration on her priorities, including public safety.

There is no evidence that Parker and Trump have worked together directly since.

While Parker has not spoken publicly about her strategy to avoid overtly denouncing the president, she has made clear that her willingness to work with him is motivated by preserving the more than $2 billion the city receives annually in federal aid.

“We don’t have the luxury of not having our fiscal house in order,” Parker said after Trump took office. “So I do anticipate, as mayor of the city of Philadelphia, eventually meeting with President Trump and/or members of his administration.”

Top city officials feared the Trump administration would follow through on his campaign threats to strip all federal funding from so-called sanctuary cities like Philadelphia, where authorities do not hold people in custody at the request of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement without a judicial warrant. That policy was adopted under previous mayors, and Parker has not changed it.

So far, the Trump administration has not stripped funding from the city because of its immigration policies, and it has not filed a lawsuit against Philadelphia over them, despite doing so elsewhere. (His administration did separately terminate some grants to the city.)

It is unclear why exactly Philadelphia has avoided the same fate as some of its peer cities run by Democrats.

Asked to comment on the National Guard deployments, a White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they “would not get ahead of the president on future considerations.”

Some political strategists have observed that the Trump administration has avoided activating the military in swing states, including Pennsylvania. Polling shows a majority of Americans believe the federal government should send troops only to face external threats.

Another factor could be that protests in Philadelphia against immigration enforcement have been largely contained. They have been smaller than in cities like Los Angeles and Portland, where demonstrations grew combative at times and were cited by Trump officials as a justification for the military deployments.

Philadelphia’s municipal government also has connections to the Trump administration. The city has long contracted federal lobbyists to advocate on its behalf, and has spent about $100,000 paying lobbyists from two firms so far this year, according to federal records.

And Parker has said she has personal relationships with Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation.

That includes U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, a freshman Republican from Western Pennsylvania and a Trump ally. It is unclear if McCormick has lobbied Trump or the administration on the city’s behalf, and his office did not respond to a request for comment.

But it’s clear he and Parker are friendly.

Parker and McCormick have on several occasions spoken fondly of each other, with McCormick specifically praising Parker’s support of law enforcement and her efforts to address the city’s opioid epidemic.

During an interview on local talk radio this year, McCormick said he’s “a fan” of Parker. He said he had met with her multiple times and had spoken with her “at length” after a deadly plane crash in Northeast Philadelphia in January.

“I think Philadelphia’s got a great mayor,” McCormick said.

Other elected officials are ratcheting up the alarm

Still, many of Trump’s loudest critics in Philadelphia think the city is on borrowed time and should do more to prepare for the Trump administration to deploy the military here.

Krasner, the progressive prosecutor running for his third term in office, has said the Trump administration is looking for an “excuse to invade” Democratic-led cities. And City Council recently passed a resolution condemning a potential deployment of the National Guard in Philadelphia.

Council member Kendra Brooks, the author of the legislation, said during a recent Council meeting that she is “concerned about the city’s current approach.”

The effort was backed by a parade of local activists who testified for the resolution’s passage, with several offering veiled criticisms of Parker. The Rev. Peter Ahn alluded to Parker’s oft-used catchphrase, “One Philly, a United City,” and said Philadelphia leaders should be outspoken against Trump’s actions in other cities.

“Our silence does not make us safe,” Ahn said. “A united city is good. Solidarity with other cities is even better.”

There are signs that alarm is also growing among even more centrist Democrats. Council member Curtis Jones Jr., a Democrat and longtime ally of Parker’s, said local leaders have “had to alter and two-step around” Trump to protect federal aid to the city. But he questioned how long that dance can last.

“We have to as we move forward as a body, as a city,” he said. “At what point do we draw the line? At what point do we say, ‘Enough is enough’?”

And Johnson floated the idea of Council working with outside activists to take legal action against the Trump administration over threats to alter exhibits about slavery at Independence National Historical Park.

Johnson, who has a close relationship with Parker, said he was not working with the mayor on the effort. He would not engage with reporters’ questions about her approach, but said broadly that local government is the “front line” in opposing Trump’s agenda.

“So we have to step up,” Johnson said. “We have to use our platforms as a bully pulpit to advocate for those most in need.”

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