Trump sends in the troops
THE CATCH-UP
THE CRACKDOWN: President Donald Trump announced he will deploy the National Guard in Washington and take control of the city's police department, a significant expansion of federal power over the nation's capital in an effort to tackle crime. He also said authorities will remove homeless encampments.
Incoming: At a wide-ranging news conference, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said 800 National Guard troops will fan out in D.C. within the next week. One military official told POLITICO's Paul McLeary and Irie Sentner that the deployment will likely look similar to what happened in Los Angeles this summer. And Trump tapped new DEA Administrator Terry Cole as the interim leader of the Metropolitan Police Department, with AG Pam Bondi overseeing. The latter move, taking over local police, invokes a section of the Home Rule Act that has never been used before and allows the federal government to step in for 30 days. More from Irie … POLITICO's Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein answer your questions
The rationale: From the podium, Trump laid out a dystopian vision of what's happening in D.C. — 'overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of violent youth, drugged-out maniacs and homeless people' — and said this was the city's 'liberation day.' Trump's memorandum to Hegseth cites recent high-profile crimes in the city, and his official emergency declaration repeatedly claims there is rising violent crime. Trump's depiction of surging crime as the fundamental basis for his decision does not compute with data from the past year or two. But White House communications director Steven Cheung questioned the legitimacy of such statistics, citing recent allegations of falsifying data at MPD.
By the numbers: The police data for 2024 showed violent crime in D.C. plummeting to a 30-year low, and murders have fallen significantly, as they have in many cities over the past couple of years. Though the homicide rate is dropping, it remains higher than before the pandemic — but much lower than in the 'murder capital' days of the early 1990s. Jeff Asher's analysis of D.C. crime data concludes: 'Violent crime is still declining, but probably not as much as is being reported.' As WaPo wrote last night, 'Not captured in statistics, though, is the grief, pain and shattered sense of safety that follow each crime.'
Room to go further: Trump warned that beyond the National Guard, 'we will bring in the military if it's needed.' And though D.C. is uniquely within Trump's control in some respects, he also threatened to take similar action in other cities like New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Baltimore and Oakland, calling them 'so far gone.' There was no mention of worse murder rates in red-state cities like Memphis and New Orleans.
The outcry: Local leaders and Democrats largely decried Trump's escalation, calling it an unnecessary or counterproductive infringement on home rule and a distraction from steps that would reduce crime. Many were quick to note that House Republicans still haven't passed legislation to fix the $1 billion hole they blew in D.C.'s budget. 'It does not escape me that the president is calling in the DCNG on the pretext of a surge in crime that the numbers do not support, while he was nowhere to be found for hours on January 6, 2021,' Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) said in a statement. D.C. AG Brian Schwalb said the move was 'unprecedented, unnecessary and unlawful,' and that the city is 'considering all of our options.'
Also happening today: A three-day trial is getting underway in California over Trump's last deployment of the National Guard amid ICE protests in LA, the latest step in the legal fight between Trump and California Gov. Gavin Newsom. More from CNN
Good Monday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at eokun@politico.com.
8 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
1. REACHING THE SUMMIT: Trump will dial in to an emergency call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders Wednesday, before his Friday summit in Alaska with Russian President Vladimir Putin, POLITICO's Hans von der Burchard scooped. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is bringing together the virtual summit after talking with Trump last night, as Europe urges the U.S. to get tougher on Russia and demand a ceasefire before land-swap negotiations. For his part, Zelenskyy doesn't want the U.S. to see him as an obstacle to peace and is publicly welcoming an unconditional ceasefire — but warned last night that Russia will 'try to deceive America.' More from the NYT
How Trump sees it: The president said the summit would be 'a feel-out meeting' to see where Putin stands, but his softer rhetoric sounded like a return to where Trump stood on Russia and Ukraine earlier this year. Trump said it was 'very respectful' for Putin to travel to the U.S., while saying that he 'very, very severely disagree[s]' with Zelenskyy and that Ukraine will have to swap some of its territory. 'It's not up to me to make a deal,' Trump added. 'I think a deal should be made for both.'
2. THE EPSTEIN FILES: A federal judge today rejected the Justice Department's effort to unseal transcripts from the grand jury in Ghislaine Maxwell's case, per POLITICO's Erica Orden. The DOJ request had been part of an effort by the Trump administration to respond to grassroots fury over refusing to release the so-called Jeffrey Epstein files.
Harsh dismissal: Judge Paul Engelmayer's ruling said the materials don't identify anyone else as sexually abusing minors, and he undercut the government's reasoning: 'Its entire premise — that the Maxwell grand jury materials would bring to light meaningful new information about Epstein's and Maxwell's crimes, or the Government's investigation into them — is demonstrably false.' The judge added, 'There is no 'there' there.'
How it's playing: Some Republican members of Congress haven't gotten much of a break from the Epstein story in their recess town halls back home, where constituents have pressed them with questions, NOTUS' Riley Rogerson reports.
3. STAT OF THE DAY: The New Yorker's David Kirkpatrick set out to determine how much profit Trump and his family have made off his two presidencies, and came up with a conservative estimate of $3.4 billion. That includes everything from Truth Social to Qatar's jet 'gift' — but the vast majority of it is from crypto.
4. THE NEXT U.S. ATTORNEY FIGHT: 'Will Judges Approve Trump's Choice for U.S. Attorney in Manhattan?' by NYT's Benjamin Weiser: '[J]udges 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 … 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.'
5. RECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES: Though House Republicans are eyeing another party-line reconciliation bill, many in the Senate GOP are less enthused about a second go-around, POLITICO's Mia McCarthy and colleagues report. There could be more tax proposals and spending cuts. Though the White House likes the idea, it has yet to tell lawmakers what its top priorities are. And for some senators, the prospect of a second difficult slog through the budget reconciliation process looks politically difficult — especially without the inclusion of a debt ceiling increase, which added must-pass urgency to the first megabill.
6. KNOWING MAY MAILMAN: 'The Harvard-Trained Lawyer Behind Trump's Fight Against Top Universities,' by NYT's Michael Bender: 'She is credited as an animating force behind a strategy that has intimidated independent institutions and undercut years of medical and scientific research. … The biggest prize for Mr. Trump, and Ms. Mailman, remains Harvard. … Inside the White House, Ms. Mailman's ruthless efficiency and engaging personality has earned her praise from superiors and loyalty from junior staff members. Despite her fearsome role in dragging university lawyers to the negotiating table, some who have made deals with the government have privately complimented her pragmatism.'
7. VAX NOT: 'Medical journal rejects Kennedy's call for retraction of vaccine study,' by Reuters' Michael Erman and Jennifer Rigby: '[The] large Danish study … found that aluminum ingredients in vaccines do not increase health risks for children … 'I see no reason for retraction,' Dr. Christine Laine, editor in chief of the Annals and a professor of medicine at Thomas Jefferson University, said … [Lead author Anders Peter Hviid] wrote that none of the critiques put forward by [Robert F. Kennedy Jr.] were substantive and he categorically denied any deceit as implied by the secretary.'
8. PRIMARY COLORS: As Texas Republicans threaten a gerrymander, a potential primary between Democratic Reps. Lloyd Doggett and Greg Casar heated up this morning. Both incumbents want to run in what would be a safe Democratic district based in Austin. Doggett called for Casar to run in a reconfigured district that stretches to San Antonio, saying Casar could win it though it leans Republican. 'Abandoning winnable majority Hispanic #TX35 to challenge me in #TX37 helps Trump, divides progressives,' he wrote. Casar posted, 'I love you Austin Texas.'
TALK OF THE TOWN
Bernie Moreno is traveling to Mexico and Colombia, where he was born, to meet with Claudia Sheinbaum, Gustavo Petro and more.
Cheryl Hines is standing strongly alongside Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: 'We love each other and are still married and whatever we've been through is behind us.'
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Chris Matthews is writing a new book, 'Lessons from Bobby: Ten Reasons Why Robert F. Kennedy Still Matters.' Simon & Schuster will publish the book, which includes a road map for America from Kennedy's life and career and a selection of his speeches, on Nov. 11, just ahead of the 100th anniversary of his birth. Matthews previously wrote a bestselling biography of Kennedy in 2017. The cover
— Harrison Weinhold is joining Salem Media Group as a consultant focused on audience and revenue growth for its podcast portfolio. He previously was head of growth at The Blaze, and is a Daily Caller alum.
— Nisha Desai is joining Van Ness Creative Strategies as senior director of digital fundraising in its new D.C. office. She previously was digital fundraising director at the DCCC.
WHITE HOUSE DEPARTURE LOUNGE — Dean Ball is joining the Foundation for American Innovation as a senior fellow. He previously was senior policy adviser for artificial intelligence and emerging technology in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
MEDIA MOVE — Holly Spear is joining The Washington Reporter as a reporter to cover business and state policy issues. She previously was an attorney for the state of Arkansas and a public policy advocate.
TRANSITION — Former Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) is rejoining Dilworth Paxson as senior counsel, going back to the Philadelphia office of the firm where he worked early in his career.
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Zelensky refuses to cede Donbas, says doing so would give Putin ‘springboard' for future offensives
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