President Trump blamed Democrats for the worsening homelessness problem in some of America’s largest cities.

During an interview with Fox News that aired on Monday, the president appeared to be saying that the problem has been exacerbated in the last two years, though others interpreted his comments to mean that he believed homelessness was a phenomenon that started two years ago.

‘It’s a phenomenon that started two years ago,’ Trump told Tucker Carlson when the Fox News host asked him about ‘major problem with filth’ in cities like New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

‘It’s disgraceful. I'm going to maybe - I am looking at it very seriously.’

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President Trump blamed Democrats for the homelessness problem in some of America's largest cities. He made the comments in an interview with Tucker Carlson of Fox News, which aired on Monday

Trump says that it’s a ‘phenomenon that started two years ago’ though it is unclear what he meant

Carlson mentioned the cleanliness of cities in Japan, where he traveled to cover the G20 summit which was also attended by Trump and other world leaders.

‘You come to where we are now, Osaka or Tokyo, and the cities are clean,’ Carlson says.

‘There’s no graffiti. No one going to the bathroom on the street. You don’t see junkies.’

Trump replies: ‘It’s very nice, isn’t it?’

‘Very different from our cities,’ Carlson says.

‘Yep,’ Trump says before adding: ‘Well, no, some of our cities…’

‘Some of our cities, but New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles - they’ve got a major problem with filth,’ Carlson says.

‘It’s very sad,’ Trump says.

‘Why is that?’ Carlson asks.

Trump then says that it’s a ‘phenomenon that started two years ago’ though it is unclear what he meant.

The president then said that ‘police officers are getting sick just by walking the beat,’ though it is unclear what he was referring to.

In May, an LAPD detective was diagnosed with typhoid fever, a rare illness typically spread through contaminated food or water, and at least five other officers who work in the same station showed symptoms.

The six officers work in the Central Division station, where a state investigation into unsafe and unsanitary working conditions led to penalties and more than $5,000 in fines earlier this month, documents show.

The division polices downtown Los Angeles, including the notorious Skid Row area where hundreds of homeless people camp on the streets.

When mentioning San Francisco, Trump said that the city was a place ‘that you used to think as very special’ but is now ‘terrible.’ A homeless man is seen begging for money as pedestrians walk by on a San Francisco street in May 2019

Travis Stanley, who said he has been homeless for three months and is a U.S. Navy veteran, reads on donated bedding where he normally sleeps beneath an overpass on June 5, 2019 in Los Angeles

Homeless beg for money on April 6, 2018 in New York City - Trump's hometown

The police union says homeless encampments must be cleaned up following the recent diagnosis and other cases where officers contracted hepatitis A and staph infections.

‘I mean, they’re getting actually very sick, where people are getting sick, where the people living there are living in hell, too,’ Trump said.

Trump then claimed that it was the ‘liberal establishment’ that was responsible for homelessness and that he ‘ended it very quickly’ in Washington, D.C. after he became president.

When mentioning San Francisco, Trump said that the city was a place ‘that you used to think as very special’ but is now ‘terrible.’

The president also said he owns property there.

‘So we’re looking at it very seriously,’ Trump said.

‘We may intercede. We may do something to get that whole thing cleaned up. It’s inappropriate.’