Trump's Washington DC takeover is straight out of a fascist playbook
Buying into state violence this way produces something historian Robert Paxton has called a 'mobilizing passion'. In his book The Anatomy of Fascism, Paxton described how 'the beauty of violence and the efficacy of will' is produced and then mobilized by fascists by creating 'a sense of overwhelming crisis beyond the reach of traditional solutions'. In other words, there's always a grave, existential threat lurking around every corner, and only fascist violence can restore order to a lawless world. To the fascist, as Umberto Eco once put it, 'life is a permanent war'.
Enter Donald Trump. Whether it's an existential threat of 'wokeness' run amok in American universities, or the extraordinary danger of unauthorized immigrants picking our vegetables, Trump is prepared to battle everyone and everything, including his own windmills, to restore the country to some illusory past glory that we are all supposed to believe in, and be willing to sacrifice ourselves for.
But the sad truth is that many, if not most, of Trump's justifications for his policies, are unsurprisingly based on bald-faced lies or gross exaggerations simply to further his pursuit of absolute power. Yet it doesn't seem to matter. With each new announcement, Trump continues to prove how excellent he is at crafting the illusion of problems where there basically are none and leading his followers down an often-violent path of retribution. (Remember January 6, DC's most violent day in recent history?) By doing so, he seeks to constantly expand his authority while also deflecting from all the substantial problems that are staring him in the face. And these problems are not insignificant. Think of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal or the continuation of global conflicts that he promised months ago he would uniquely be able to end.
The federal takeover of the Washington DC police department, announced with loud fanfare by Trump on Monday, is the latest example of this phenomenon. About 800 national guard troops will be deployed in the nation's capital because, according to the president, 'our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged-out maniacs, and homeless people.'
This does sound rather frightening. Fortunately, it's not true. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to matter.
First, the facts. Crime in DC is at historic lows. 'Total violent crime for 2024 in the District of Columbia is down 35% from 2023 and is the lowest it has been in over 30 years,' the justice department announced earlier this year. And crime numbers for 2025 are even better, substantially lower than 2024. Violent crime in 2025 is down 26% compared with 2024.
The DC council understands this. The council responded to Trump's announcement with an angry joint statement: 'This is a manufactured intrusion on local authority. Violent crime in the District is at the lowest rates we've seen in 30 years. Federalizing the DC police is unwarranted because there is no Federal emergency. Further, the National Guard has no public safety training or knowledge of local laws. The Guard's role does not include investigating or solving crimes in the District. Calling out the National Guard is an unnecessary deployment with no real mission.'
Such facts ought to matter. So why don't they to Trump?
Facts don't matter for Trump because facts have always operated as nothing more than an inconvenience for him. Just ask Erika McEntarfer, former commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. She was recently fired by Trump after accurately reporting employment statistics, and those specific numbers contradicted Trump and his policies. But with every new policy enacted by this administration, Trump's fact-free worldview becomes a lot more worrisome.
That's true for this policy, too. Owing to its historically limited autonomy, the District of Columbia is governed differently than other parts of the county. And under the Home Rule Act of 1973,the federal government can take over its policing functions for a period of 30 days. Congress would probably then have to extend that time limit if needed. But to think that Trump is focused on federal policing authority solely to deploy it to Washington DC is to also believe that Donald Trump has never seen a spray tan machine.
Here is Trump: 'We have other cities also that are bad, very bad,' he said at his press conference. 'You look at Chicago, how bad it is. You look at Los Angeles, how bad it is. We have other cities that are very bad. New York is a problem. And then you have of course Baltimore and Oakland. We don't even mention that any more, they're so far gone. We're not going to let it happen. We're not going to lose our cities over this. And this will go further. We're starting very strongly with DC.'
Now, here are the facts. In Chicago, homicides are down 33% in 2025. Los Angeles had the 'lowest homicide total in nearly 60 years' in 2025. New York's police department is reporting that 'from January 2025 through May 2025, New York City experienced the lowest number of shootings and murders in recorded history.' The Baltimore police department has stated that 2025 'continues to see double-digit reductions in gun violence, including a 22% decrease in homicides'. And the Oakland police department reported last week 'that overall crime in Oakland has dropped by 28% in the first six months of 2025' including a 24% decrease in homicides.
Donald Trump wants to take over all forms of law enforcement in the United States, from local policing to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agency that is now pumped up on budgetary steroids. (Under Trump's so-called big, beautiful bill, Ice will now expand to become the largest federal law enforcement agency in US history, with a bigger budget than most nations' militaries.) Trump's desire to control all forms of state power, and to expand them beyond belief, is a move straight out of the fascist playbook. And it's completely dependent on the production of both extraordinary fear and blatant lies.
The first way of fighting such an obvious power grab is not to give in to the fear and not to believe the lies. But what is less understood about Trump is that he doesn't even care if we believe his lies. Like all such leaders, what Trump really wants is just that we no longer believe in the truth. The difference between not believing the lies and believing in the truth may sound slight, but it's exactly in that distinction where some people are allowed to live and others must die. It's where democracy is found or democracy is lost. And it's why holding on to the very concept of truth ultimately matters so much more than just arguing over the lies.
Moustafa Bayoumi is the author of the award-winning books How Does It Feel to Be a Problem?: Being Young and Arab in America and This Muslim American Life: Dispatches from the War on Terror. He is professor of English at Brooklyn College, City University of New York
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Daily Mail
The minimum wage in Australia needs to be raised to $76/hr RIGHT NOW… and there's a very good reason for it
A business and finance guru claims the minimum wage should be raised to a staggering $76/hr so Australians can more easily afford a house. AJ Clores argued the substantial increase should be carried out so it would 'match what it could buy in the 1950s'. 'Back then, a single income could cover the mortgage, bills, groceries, a family car, and even a holiday every now and then,' he wrote. 'Owning a home wasn't a dream, it was just what happened when you worked.' During the 1950s, the median price for a house was $7,150, which was a little more than double the average income. Today, the median house price across the country is significantly higher at $912,563; however, it is even higher in some cities, with the figure at $1,525,956 in Sydney. The substantial increase means that house prices, for a lot of Aussies, are 13 times the average income. Mr Clores argued couples who were working full-time jobs were still not making enough money to buy their own house, and they were forced to rent. @onepercentanswers Minimum wage would need to be $76 an hour today to match what it could buy in the 1950s. Back then, a single income could cover the mortgage, bills, groceries, a family car, and even a holiday every now and then. Owning a home wasn't a dream, it was just what happened when you worked. Now, even with two people working full-time, many are still stuck renting into their 30s and 40s. The idea of buying a home feels like chasing smoke. It's not about 'kids these days don't work hard enough.' People are working just as hard, the ladder has just been pulled up higher. Wages haven't kept pace with the cost of living, and the gap between what we earn and what we need keeps getting wider. For a lot of Aussies, it's not about being lazy or irresponsible, it's about playing a game that's been completely rewritten. And the rules? They're not in our favour. #sydney #australia #australian #aussie ♬ Golden Hour: Piano Version - Andy Morris 'The idea of buying a home feels like chasing smoke,' he wrote. 'It's not about 'kids these days don't work hard enough.' 'People are working just as hard, the ladder has just been pulled up higher. 'Wages haven't kept pace with the cost of living, and the gap between what we earn and what we need keeps getting wider. 'For a lot of Aussies, it's not about being lazy or irresponsible, it's about playing a game that's been completely rewritten.' Social media users were divided, with some arguing the substantial increase would be unrealistic. 'Do you know wages aren't set by housing prices, and raising wages would only drive up demand for houses and thus prices?' one wrote. 'Instead, we need to address the causes of the overly inflated housing prices to drive affordability.' Another added: 'If $76 was minimum, how much would a 2L milk cost?' 'Minimum wage is not the issue,' a third said. 'The issue is that the housing and job markets are dominated by greedy old rich folks who only want their own friends and family to have good jobs and own houses.' Others sided with Mr Clores, saying $76/hr should be the new standard. 'Should be, but it'll never be,' one wrote. 'We have no chance unless we revolt and start over,' a second added. A third joked: 'Boomers be like "nah, you just have to work harder and not buy a coffee every day".' The Australian Property Institute's (API) Valuation Report, released in May, painted a grim outlook for those seeking to step onto the property ladder in Sydney. Fifty years ago, a median priced home in Australia's most populated city cost just 4.2 times the average worker's salary. In 1995, it had only risen to 5.8 times their income. But by 2015, that same median-priced home was worth 11.1 times an average income for Sydneysiders. The average Australian salary last year was just short of $103,000, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, while a median home price is nearly $1.34million. The new data equates to a median home costing more than 13 times the average income.
Times
3 days ago
- Times
Africa wants new map to represent continent's impact on the world
On classroom walls from Lagos to London, the standardised world map shows a shrunken Africa, comparable in size to the United States or China, with an inflated Britain at the centre. Now African campaigners want it replaced because, they say, the nearly 500-year-old Mercator projection distorts geography by diminishing the world's second-largest continent because it exaggerates the size of the northern hemisphere. 'It might seem to be just a map but in reality it is not,' said Selma Haddadi of the African Union Commission. The AU is calling for schools, governments and international institutions to adopt images that reflect countries' true sizes. She said the present design had long fostered the false impression that Africa is 'marginal', a continent that could be tucked into Russia with room to spare, entrenching stereotypes across media, education and policy. Africa is sufficiently large that the US, China, India, Japan and much of western Europe could fit into the continent with space left over. The Mercator projection, developed in 1569 by the Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator, began as a tool for sailors. Stretching the lines of latitude, it allowed navigators to plot straight-line courses across oceans — a breakthrough for 16th-century sea travel. By the 18th century, Mercator's projection dominated world mapping, moving from maritime charts to home atlases and now viewed billions of times a year on Google Maps' mobile app. But its design exaggerates the size of landmasses near the poles and shrinks those nearer the equator. Antarctica is rendered so large that publishers often omit part of it and, in the process, centre the world vertically on Europe rather than the equator — which, critics say, gives the global north an exaggerated sense of importance. The 'Correct The Map' campaign has revived the debate over Africa's true size. Led by Africa No Filter and Speak Up Africa, and supported by the AU, it urges global bodies — including the World Bank and the UN — to adopt the Equal Earth map, created in 2018 by three cartographers, which campaigners say is a fairer representation of countries' shape and size. The case for change is underscored by President Trump's fascination with Greenland, which on the Mercator map appears to rival Africa in size. Africa is 14 times larger, while Greenland is smaller than a single African country, Democratic Republic of the Congo, where Trump is eyeing mineral deals to counter China's dominance. Trump, who floated the idea of acquiring Greenland during his first term, told reporters he was struck by its apparent scale. 'I love maps … and I always said, 'Look at the size of this. It's massive! That should be part of the United States.'' Canada, another country he has suggested annexing, also appears far bigger than its actual size. A World Bank spokesman said that it already used the Equal Earth or 'Winkel tripel' for static maps. Moky Makura, executive director of Africa No Filter, said: 'The current size of Africa is wrong. It's the world's longest misinformation campaign, and it has to stop.'
The Independent
4 days ago
- The Independent
How Russia is preparing for conflict in Nato's new Arctic battleground
At its nearest point, Alaska is just 2.4 miles from Russia. In the remote Bering Sea, Little Diomede island (US) lies next to Big Diomede island (Russia). In between them sits the International Date Line which means the American island, also known as Yesterday, is 21 hours behind its Russia neighbour, unsurprisingly dubbed Tomorrow. This quirk of geography and history appeals to Putin, not only literally putting him ahead in the sense of time, but also ahead in politics - because that's where he's winning the race for control of a vast region that is opening up, thanks to climate change. For as the Arctic increasingly melts, it is Russia and Putin that are taking advantage. 'This region is at the centre of Nato 's security. This is Nato's northern flank… Russia's military presence particularly, has been growing now for years,' warned foreign secretary David Lammy on a recent trip to the High North. 'This area is hugely, strategically important as the ice caps melt. It opens up potentially new gateways. Suddenly you can do shipping in areas where you couldn't before. 'My visit is about deterring the threat from Russia, just as it is about tackling the threat of climate change.' Russia is working hardest to dominate the Arctic because it has most to gain from the opening of these routes. The melting Arctic ice cap is an economic and military opportunity that Moscow has not missed. Recently, it expanded its fleets with its binoculars trained on Arctic dominance. The newly built Arktika -class nuclear icebreakers, such as the Arktika and Sibir, are among the most powerful in the world. They are capable of ploughing through ice up to 2.8 meters thick and operating all year-round. By the end of this year, Russia plans to operate a fleet of over 20 nuclear and diesel-electric icebreakers – and will lead the world in carving through the Arctic. In reply, the US Coastguard has three icebreakers and one on order. The UK has none. This Russian fleet enables Moscow to lead the search for the vast mineral resources, including fossil fuels, that are locked up beneath the melting ice. Icebreakers also allow it to control shipping routes and assert military dominance over the emerging region. According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center, the Arctic sea ice has declined by about 40 per cent since satellite observations began in 1979, with record lows in recent years. That means new shipping routes can be opened and probably kept open – by Russia. The Northern Sea Route (NSR), which runs along Russia's Siberian coast from Murmansk to the Bering Strait, is at the heart of the Kremlin's strategic push into the Arctic. This route used to be impassable for most of the year. Satellite and climate data now reveals that the navigation season along the NSR has stretched from only 60 days a year to double that now. Year-round transit is around the corner. The distance between Asian manufacturing hubs like China and Europe is being cut by approximately 40 per cent, saving millions of dollars in fuel and transit time. Trips from Shanghai to Hamburg via the NSR take around 15 days, compared to roughly 30 days via the Suez Canal. That's an economic bonus that Russia wants to own. It is likely to come into conflict with the rest of the world if Moscow insists on collecting tariffs for using an international shipping route – which it hopes to do. Already Russia uses its ports in the High North for moving sanctioned crude oil in its 'shadow fleet' which help fund Putin's war against Ukraine. Norway operates the biggest satellite observation network in the world from the Svalbard archipelago and can see Russia's illegal oil exports leaving its northern ports. 'It's this satellite ground station that helps us see the movement of Russia's shadow fleet and ultimately helps us to thwart Putin's ability to fund his war,' Lammy said. 'The High North has always been important to the security of the whole alliance. This is one of the regions where Russia can move out and towards the west.' The UK's Royal Marines play a key role in Nato's cold weather warfare and Lammy insisted that Britain is crucial in defending Nato's northern flank with what is called the Littoral Response Group. But the Royal Navy does not have any amphibious ships to move the commandos, and its real contribution is very light compared to the Nordic countries and the US. This puts further strain on the whole of Nato's operational readiness as Ukraine is the focus of so much effort. Russia's Northern Fleet has deployed advanced nuclear-powered submarines, including the Borei-class and Yassen-class vessels, capable of launching strategic missile strikes from under the ice. They give Moscow a second-strike nuclear capability, which ensures its place among the superpowers. To consolidate its position, Russia has constructed new military bases and upgraded existing ones in Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya. These are the real inroads into the Arctic - taking advantage of the rapid rate of climate change - that means the rest of the world needs to sit up and take notice. By holding his first face to face talks with Putin of his presidency in this remote land, Trump may have inadvertently shown the world another clear and present damage from Putin.
