Is Trump's foreign policy weakening the US? Ken Roth and Stephen Walt
In this episode of Reframe, Ken Roth and Stephen Walt discuss how President Donald Trump is undermining democratic norms and institutions within the US and worldwide, questioning whether his leadership has brought about an unprecedented shift in its global power.
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Al Jazeera
7 minutes ago
- Al Jazeera
US vice president visits troops amid protests in Washington, DC crackdown
Bringing prominent White House support to the streets of Washington, DC, US Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have visited with National Guard troops at the city's main train station. 'We brought some law and order back,' the vice president asserted as protesters chanted 'free DC' during the latest tense interlude from President Donald Trump's crackdown in the nation's capital on Wednesday. 'We appreciate everything you're doing,' Vance said as he presented burgers to the troops. Citing the protesters whose shouts echoed through the station, Vance said, 'They appear to hate the idea that Americans can enjoy their communities.' Vance's and Hegseth's appearance, which also included White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, was a striking scene that illustrated the Republican administration's intense focus on the situation in Washington and its willingness to promote an initiative that has polarised the Democratic-led city. On August 8, federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), began patrolling parts of Washington, DC. Days later, on August 11, President Trump declared a 'crime emergency' under Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, which temporarily placed the city's Metropolitan Police under federal authority. An estimated 1,900 troops are being deployed in DC. More than half are coming from Republican-led states. Besides Union Station, they've mostly been spotted around downtown areas, including the National Mall and DC Metro stops. National Guard armoured vehicle crash The intersection of life in the city and a military presence produced another striking scene early on Wednesday when an armoured vehicle collided with a civilian car less than a mile (1.6km) from the US Capitol. One person was trapped inside the car after the accident and had to be extricated by emergency responders, according to DC Fire Department spokesman Vito Maggiolo. The person was transported to a hospital with minor injuries. It was not immediately clear what caused the crash. A video posted online showed the aftermath of the collision, with a tan-coloured armoured vehicle twice the height of a civilian car with a crushed side. 'You come to our city and this is what you do? Seriously?' a woman yelled at the troops in the video. US Attorney General Pam Bondi said more than 550 people have been arrested so far, and the US Marshals Service is offering $500 rewards for information leading to additional arrests. 'Together, we will make DC safe again!' Bondi wrote on social media. Navigating the situation Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser, trying to balance the constituency that elected her and the reality in front of her, acknowledged the changing situation in the city as she attended a back-to-school event with teachers and staff. 'This is not the same time, is it, that we experienced in opening school last year,' she said. Bowser said she would focus on the politics and told school employees that 'your job is to love on the kids, teach them and make sure that they are prepared and to trust that I'm going to do the right thing for all of us'. Despite the militarised backdrop, Bowser said it's important that children 'have joy when they approach this school year'. Public schools around Washington reconvene Monday for the fall semester. The city's Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) arrested an average of 61 adults and juveniles per day in 2024, according to city statistics. The Trump administration has not specified whether the arrest totals it has cited include those made by MPD officers or only consist of those made by federal agents. DC crime rates have remained largely unchanged from a year ago, according to the police department's weekly statistics. As of Tuesday, the city's overall crime rate is down 7 percent year over year, the same percentage as before the crackdown. DC has also experienced the same declines in violent crime and property crime as it did beforehand, according to the data. Trump has defended his decision to deploy soldiers in the US capital as necessary to stem a wave of violent crime. City officials have rejected that assertion, pointing to federal and city statistics that show violent crime has declined significantly since a spike in 2023. The president has said, without providing evidence, that the crime data is fraudulent. The US Department of Justice has opened an investigation into whether the numbers were manipulated, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed sources. Shotguns and rifles The White House has touted the number of guns that law enforcement has seized since Trump began surging federal agents into the city. In a social media post on Wednesday, US Attorney General Pam Bondi said the operation had taken 76 illegal guns off the streets, along with the more than 500 arrests. However, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday that federal prosecutors in DC will no longer seek charges against people who violate a local law prohibiting individuals from carrying rifles or shotguns in the nation's capital. The decision, which represents a break from the office's prior policy, comes amid what Trump has described as a crime crackdown in Washington. The president has deployed hundreds of National Guard troops and federal agents to the city's streets to combat what he says is rampant crime, in an extraordinary exercise of presidential power. 66 arrests yesterday and 8 illegal firearms seized. One arrest was a warrant on a juvenile for armed robbery in Washington DC. Thank you to our K9, Red, and all the men and women who continue to work hard so that Americans can feel safe in the nation's capital! — Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) August 20, 2025 In a statement provided to Reuters, US Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said the new policy will not preclude prosecutors from charging people with other illegal firearms crimes, such as a convicted felon found in possession of a gun. 'We will continue to seize all illegal and unlicensed firearms,' she said. The DC code in question bars anyone from carrying a rifle or shotgun with narrow exceptions. Pirro, a close Trump ally, argued in a statement to the Washington Post that the law violates two US Supreme Court decisions expanding gun rights. In 2008, the court struck down a separate DC law banning handguns and ruled that individuals have the right to keep firearms in their homes for self-defence. In 2022, the court ruled that any gun-control law must be rooted in the country's historical traditions to be valid. Unlike US attorneys in all 50 states, who only prosecute federal offences, the US attorney in Washington prosecutes local crimes as well.
Al Jazeera
3 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Most Americans support international recognition of Palestine: Poll
Washington, DC – Most Americans believe that all countries should recognise Palestine as a state, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll suggests, as public support for Israel in the United States continues to plunge amid the atrocities in Gaza. A majority of respondents – 59 percent – also said that Israel's military response in Gaza has been excessive. The survey, released on Wednesday, quizzed 4,446 US adults between August 13 and 16. Fifty-eight percent of respondents agreed with the statement that 'Palestine should be recognised as a country by all UN members'. The number rose to 78 percent amongst Democrats, compared to 41 percent of Republicans. Strikingly, fewer Democratic respondents, 77 percent, agreed that 'Israel should be recognised as a country by all UN members'. The study comes as global outrage grows against Israel's campaign of destruction, starvation and displacement in Gaza, which leading rights groups have labelled as a genocide. Several US allies, including France, the United Kingdom and Canada, have said that they intend to recognise Palestine as a state at the United Nations General Assembly next month. The administration of US President Donald Trump has rejected international efforts to recognise a Palestinian state and dismissed the moves as meaningless. The overwhelming majority of countries already recognise Palestine. It remains to be seen how further recognition by Western countries would impact Israel's ongoing war in Gaza and the expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank – the two territories that would form a Palestinian state. Rights advocates have been calling on the international community to impose tangible consequences on Israel for abuses against Palestinians, including sanctions and an arms embargo. Despite protests by European countries, Israel is pushing on with a campaign to seize Gaza City, an assault that risks displacing tens of thousands of people and destroying what remains of the area that was once the largest city in Palestine. In the West Bank, Israel continues to step up military and settler attacks while building more settlements in violation of international law. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich celebrated a newly announced plan for 3,400 illegal Israeli housing units between occupied East Jerusalem and Palestinian communities in the West Bank as an effort to eliminate the possibility of a Palestinian state. 'The Palestinian state is being erased from the table not by slogans but by deeds,' Smotrich said, according to the Times of Israel. 'Every settlement, every neighbourhood, every housing unit is another nail in the coffin of this dangerous idea.' Last year, the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel's presence in the occupied Palestinian territories – Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem – is unlawful and should come to an end 'as rapidly as possible'. The Fourth Geneva Convention, to which Israel is a signatory, prohibits the occupying power from transferring 'parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies'. Successive US administrations have verbally supported the two-state solution, while continuing to provide Israel with billions of dollars in military aid as it further entrenches its occupation of the Palestinian territories. Trump – a staunch supporter of Israel – has broken with traditional policy, refusing to explicitly back the two-state solution or criticise settlement expansion. Still, US public opinion has continued to turn against Israel. In a YouGov poll released on Tuesday, 43 percent of US respondents said they believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, compared to 28 percent who disagreed with the statement.
Al Jazeera
16 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Trump's White House takes to TikTok as deadline looms to ban platform
The White House has launched an official TikTok account, even as the future of the Chinese-owned social media app in the United States remains uncertain due to legislation passed by the US Congress last year. The official White House account's first post on Tuesday was a 27-second video featuring a voiceover from President Donald Trump, saying: 'Every day I wake up determined to deliver a better life for the People all across this nation. I am your voice.' The account's description read: 'Welcome to the Golden Age of America'. TikTok, which remains owned by Chinese technology company ByteDance, is popular among young people, and has an estimated 170 million users in the US. Trump has so far delayed the implementation of a 2024 law that ordered TikTok to either to sell to non-Chinese buyers or be banned in the US, with three 90-day extensions. The US House of Representatives voted 352 to 65 in favour of the 'sell or ban' bill in March 2024, with widespread support from both Republicans and Democrats. The latest extension delaying the ban is due to expire in early September. 'My Administration has been working very hard on a Deal to SAVE TIKTOK, and we have made tremendous progress,' Trump posted on the Truth Social network, which he owns, in April. Few representatives questioned the bill to ban TikTok at the time it was passed, although then-Democratic representative Barbara Lee asked why only one company was being singled out in an attempt to address problems that relate to social media companies more broadly. 'Rather than target one company in a rushed and secretive process, Congress should pass comprehensive data privacy protections and do a better job of informing the public of the threats these companies may pose to national security,' Lee had posted on the social media platform X. Although the vast majority of both Democratic and Republican representatives supported the 'sell or ban' bill, many members of both parties have used the TikTok platform for campaigning and official communications. Both Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and Republican nominee Trump used the app to campaign in the 2024 Presidential election. On Tuesday, the US state of Minnesota joined a wave of states suing TikTok, alleging the social media giant preys on young people with addictive algorithms that trap them into becoming compulsive consumers of its short videos. Minnesota is also among dozens of US states that have sued Meta Platforms for allegedly building features into Instagram and Facebook that addict people. The messaging service Snapchat and the gaming platform Roblox are also facing lawsuits by some other states alleging harm to children.
