By Dan Rather
Some days it takes a little more grit and gumption to stay steady. I say this because this is one of those days. In one of his all-time most outlandish PR stunts, Donald Trump hopes to burnish his image with his MAGA base by turning the nation’s capital into a police state.
There was Trump Monday morning, acting all gruff and tough in the White House press room, usually a place reserved for presidential announcements that are meant to make Americans’ lives better or to unite the country in times of tragedy. Not so for Donald Trump.
No, he joined the press availability to trumpet his federal takeover of the District of Columbia’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and the activation of 800 National Guard troops and 120 FBI agents to the nation’s capital.
The tipping point was apparently the attempted unarmed carjacking and assault of a former DOGE employee in Washington. Nineteen-year-old Edward Coristine, known as “Big Balls” for his outsized role in slashing the federal government, was attacked on the morning of August 6. Two 15-year-olds have been arrested. Trump saw a red-meat opportunity to appeal to his base and change the subject away from some real problems.
“I’m announcing a historic action to rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor, and worse. This is Liberation Day in D.C., and we’re going to take our capital back,” he said.
Just one thing. There is no crime epidemic in Washington. Violent crime is actually at a 30-year low, according to statistics from the federal government, and down 35% since 2023. The MPD has employed several new policing methods to get the crime rate down.
Trump also mentioned “squalor,” alluding to unhoused people living on D.C.’s streets. Homelessness in D.C. exists, but it is not the massive problem it is in some other places. In a city of 700,000, there are about 800 unsheltered people sleeping outside. D.C. isn’t even among the top 10 cities with the largest homeless populations.
So if crime is down by double digits and homelessness is lower than in most cities of similar size, why does Trump feel the need to “rescue” D.C.? A peek at his Truth Social feed from Sunday morning gives us a clue.
The billionaire president was in his limo driving to play golf at his Northern Virginia country club when he posted several pictures of street litter and tents along a highway on-ramp about a mile from the White House. The photos were taken from his motorcade.
“The Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY. We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital. The Criminals, you don’t have to move out. We’re going to put you in jail where you belong,” Trump wrote.
The 30-day takeover of the MPD and the deployment of National Guard troops is Trump’s latest escalation of presidential power.
He invoked the Home Rule Act, which gives the president the power to use the D.C. police force for “federal purposes,” and plans to use the police to “protect” federal buildings and national monuments. From whom is anyone’s guess. No surprise, there are zero reports of a rise in violence against buildings in D.C., unless you include the Trump-sanctioned January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, where 65 D.C. police officers were injured.
Usually National Guard troops are deployed by a state’s governor. In D.C.’s case, since there is no governor, the president has the power to do so. But just because you have the right to do something doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do. Especially if it is a further lurch in the direction of a dictator-style police state.
This is not Trump’s first attempt at this kind of overreach. In June, he sent 5,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles in response to what he deemed dangerous protests of federal immigration raids, against the wishes of the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom.
The administration is currently on trial in California to determine if Trump’s National Guard deployment ran afoul of the Posse Comitatus Act, which bars the U.S. military from performing civilian law enforcement.
Regardless of these legal issues, Trump suggested D.C. might just be the beginning. He could expand the takeover to other cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, all in blue states. He did not mention Memphis or St. Louis, the two cities with the highest crime rates in the country, which also happen to be in red states.
Reaction to this presidential power grab was swift. Muriel Bowser, D.C.’s mayor, called it “unsettling and unprecedented” and criticized White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller for claiming Washington is “more violent than Baghdad.”
Brian Schwalb, the attorney general for the District of Columbia, called Trump’s actions “unprecedented, unnecessary and unlawful,” perhaps preparing for a legal challenge.
So there is no crime wave or homeless crisis in D.C., but there is a public relations emergency at the White House. It makes one wonder what Trump is trying to hide from: the still lurking Epstein scandal? Rising grocery prices? Criticism over meeting with a war criminal on U.S. soil? It’s becoming embarrassing to watch him manufacture stunts to change the subject. The president must think he needs a win. And he must believe marching the National Guard down Pennsylvania Avenue will give him one.
