Donald Trump has once again used his presidential powers in bad faith to exhibit a meaningless show of force so that he can appear to be strong to a country of citizens who know heâs as weak as seven days.
The Orange Man announced that he will be deploying the National Guard, 800 troops to be exact, in Washington, D.C., to commandeer the local police department in an effort to curb what he calls a âpublic safety emergencyâ of crime and homelessness. Prior to this, hundreds of federal police officers were assigned to supplant D.C. Metro Police over the weekend. Trump held a clout-chasing press conference where he bloviated about his tough-on-crime stance.
âIâm announcing a historic action to rescue our nationâs capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor and worse,â
âThis is liberation day in DC, and weâre going to take our capital back,â
Trump continued by saying that Americaâs capitol city has been âtaken over by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminalsâ and âdrugged-out maniacs and homeless peopleâ. However, the stats donât bear out any of Trumpâs trumped-up allegations about crime in the area. According to the New York Times, the Metropolitan Police Departmentâs research shows that violent crime dropped 35% from 2023 to 2024. Facts have never been a friend to Trump, and D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser is speaking out against the political stunt.
âI canât say that given some of the rhetoric of the past that we are totally surprised,â Bowser said.
Additionally, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott is also blasting Trump for attempting to paint the (largely Black) cities as criminal hellholes.
Mayor Scott also took to X to make clear that Trump is spreading dangerous propaganda from the most powerful office in the world.
Scott is not oblivious to the fact that Baltimore has dealt with challenges surrounding violence but also acknowledges that his tenure in office has shown great strides in curbing crime.
Via CBS News:
âBaltimore has 84 homicides, which is one too many for me, but itâs still the lowest number weâve had at this point of the year on record,â he said.
Much like the militarization of Los Angeles, in addition to the show of force, Trump appears to be purposely agitating the public in hopes of protests and civil unrest. Deploying the National Guard is as much about baiting bad behavior as it is the political pornography of ego stroking. Donât take the bait.
