From Washington: A Week of Wins and Distractions at The White House
Later, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Director of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, discusses how the Trump administration is trying to tackle fraud and abuse in Medicaid.
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Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump demands homeless people 'immediately' move out of Washington DC
US President Donald Trump has said homeless people must "move out" of Washington DC as he vowed to tackle crime in the city, but the mayor pushed back against the White House likening the capital to Baghdad. "We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital," he posted on Sunday. The Republican president also trailed a news conference for Monday about his plan to make the city "safer and more beautiful than it ever was before". Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, said: "We are not experiencing a crime spike." Trump signed an order last month making it easier to arrest homeless people, and he last week ordered federal law enforcement into the streets of Washington DC. "The Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY," Trump wrote on his social media site Truth Social on Sunday. "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." Alongside photos of tents and rubbish, he added: "There will be no 'MR. NICE GUY.' We want our Capital BACK. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" The specifics of the president's plan are not yet clear, but in a 2022 speech he proposed moving homeless people to "high quality" tents on inexpensive land outside cities, while providing access to bathrooms and medical professionals. On Friday, Trump ordered federal agents - including from US Park Police, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI and the US Marshals Service - into Washington DC to curb what he called "totally out of control" levels of crime. A White House official told National Public Radio that up to 450 federal officers were deployed on Saturday night. The move comes after a 19-year-old former employee of the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) was assaulted in an alleged attempted carjacking in Washington DC. Trump vented about that incident on social media, posting a photo of the bloodied victim. Mayor Bowser told MSNBC on Sunday: "It is true that we had a terrible spike in crime in 2023, but this is not 2023. "We have spent over the last two years driving down violent crime in this city, driving it down to a 30-year low." She criticised White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller for dubbing the US capital "more violent than Baghdad". "Any comparison to a war-torn country is hyperbolic and false," Bowser said. Washington DC's homicide rate remains relatively high per capita compared to other US cities, with a total of 98 such killings recorded so far this year. Homicides have been trending higher in the US capital from a decade ago. But federal data from January suggests that Washington DC last year recorded its lowest overall violent crime figures - once carjacking, assault and robberies are incorporated - in 30 years. Trump has said there will be a news conference at the White House on Monday to outline their plans to stop violent crime in the US capital. In another post on Sunday he said the event at 10:00 EDT (14:00 GMT) would address ending "crime, murder and death" in the city, as well as its "physical renovation". He described Bowser as "a good person who has tried", adding that despite her efforts crime continues to get "worse" and the city becomes "dirtier and less attractive". Community Partnership, an organisation that works to reduce homelessness in Washington DC, told Reuters news agency that the city of 700,000 residents had about 3,782 people homeless on any given night. Most were in public housing or emergency shelters, but about 800 were considered "on the street". As a district, rather than a state, Washington DC is overseen by the federal government, which has the power to override some local laws. The president controls federal land and buildings in the city, although he would need Congress to assume federal control of the district. In recent days, he has threatened to take over the Washington DC Metropolitan Police Department, which Bowser argued was not possible. "There are very specific things in our law that would allow the president to have more control over our police department," Bowser said. "None of those conditions exist in our city right now." Teenager arrested after three shot in New York City's Times Square Solve the daily Crossword
Boston Globe
35 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
The 12-day war with Israel set back more than Iran's nuclear program
Advertisement But you'd be wrong. Bayat, a senior fellow at the 'I am afraid that the war has made the situation of Iranian opposition, which has really big potential support in Iran, worse,' he told me in a recent interview. Other opposition figures, like Advertisement But Bayat represents As one exiled analyst put it, 'You cannot try to save your homeland by standing behind enemy tanks.' Despite his dismay with the attacks, Bayat — an expert on Iran's nuclear program — believes that the Trump and Netanyahu governments are mostly right that Iran's nuclear weapons 'No centrifuge can work right now in Natanz or Fordow,' he said of the machines that turn uranium into the enriched fuel needed for a weapon. 'The shockwaves alone would have put them out of commission, and without electricity the centrifuge will be also damaged. Nothing runs.' He added that he believes a third facility at Isfahan has been effectively destroyed and that the entire program has been set back by several years at least. That assessment, informed by his vast experience and contacts, is Advertisement Bayat notes that although Iran could quickly enrich its stockpile of 60 percent to build a bomb. Turning even highly enriched uranium gas into bomb-ready metal demands complex metallurgical and chemical processes. 'Afterward, the uranium must be shaped carefully to avoid accidental detonation, and sophisticated trigger systems — both conventional explosives and a nuclear neutron source — must be developed and precisely integrated. Finally, the assembled device would need to be tested and made deliverable,' he explains. Yet for all its successes, the attack wasn't needed, he asserts. He is convinced that Iran's nuclear program was really all about deterrence: That is, the regime believed the mere threat that it could acquire a nuclear weapon would prevent Israel, the United States, or any other country from trying to overthrow it. He is convinced that the regime would have been willing to negotiate a deal to stop, or at least suspend, its nuclear program in exchange for the end of crippling economic sanctions. 'I am convinced that the Islamic Republic didn't want to make a bomb in order to attack somewhere,' he told me. 'Even if they had a bomb, the regime is not suicidal. They want to stay in power and enjoy the wealth they daily steal. They know that if they attack Israel via nuclear bomb, Israel has the capacity to strike back.' He is particularly concerned that Israel might still attempt to overthrow the regime by assassinating Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the nation's supreme leader, and his top deputies. Israel, which in Advertisement The only way to displace the regime, Bayat argues, is for 'Iranians from within' to stand up and bring about a peaceful transition. 'The recent history has demonstrated that with bombs and destruction you cannot introduce freedom, democracy, and prosperity. I think there is a good chance for the Iranian citizens to overcome the despotic clerical regime in the coming times.' 'The only viable path forward is negotiation with the Trump administration — and ideally, direct talks with Israel," he said. 'Iran should renounce uranium enrichment, as it serves no real purpose and there are no nuclear weapons in the country, making 'denuclearization' a misnomer.' He contends that ending the enrichment program should be easier now because enrichment activities have been badly damaged and all but halted. Permanently ceasing the program could pave the way for sanctions relief, which the regime badly needs to repair Iran's sickly economy. 'Of course, such policy has to be accompanied with the recognition of Israel,' Bayat added. His faith that those negotiations will happen were shaken by recent remarks from the Advertisement 'I hope that, as usual, there is a difference between the public statements of the regime and its real handling of issues,' he said.
New York Times
36 minutes ago
- New York Times
Will Judges Approve Trump's Choice for U.S. Attorney in Manhattan?
The former Russian diplomat faced several charges, including money laundering, that could have landed him behind bars for a long time. But in June, shortly before his trial, the Manhattan U.S. attorney's office accepted a guilty plea from the man to only one charge, which might let him avoid prison altogether. The judge, Jed S. Rakoff, said he was curious: Was the office's change in position discussed with or initiated by the Justice Department in Washington? 'No, your honor,' a prosecutor replied. 'OK,' Judge Rakoff said. 'I wanted to make sure we didn't have an Adams situation here.' The judge was referring to the resignation in February of the head of the U.S. attorney's office after she refused a Trump Justice Department edict to seek the dismissal of charges against New York's mayor, Eric Adams. The department then orchestrated the dismissal anyway. The former diplomat's guilty plea proceeded as planned, but the courtroom exchange was revealing. It showed that judges still have lingering concerns about the independence and authority of the U.S. attorney's office for the Southern District of New York, now led on an interim basis by Jay Clayton, President Trump's pick to be the top prosecutor. The issue is expected to crystallize later this month when the roughly four dozen judges of the Southern District court, based in Manhattan, are to vote on whether to appoint Mr. Clayton to remain in the post. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
