Latest news with #federalforces
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump's federal forces are ‘hitting the streets' of DC while critics claim takeover is attempted distraction from the ‘Epstein files'
President Donald Trump's federal forces are 'hitting the streets' of Washington, D.C., while critics claim the takeover is an attempted distraction from the so-called Epstein files fallout. Trump announced Monday he was placing the D.C. police department under direct federal control and deploying the National Guard to 'rescue our nation's capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam, and squalor, and worse,' despite crime figures declining for the past two years. 'This is Liberation Day in D.C., and we're gonna take our capital back,' Trump said during a press conference. 'We're taking it back. Under the authorities vested in me as the president of the United States, I'm officially invoking Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act.' In response, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said the administration's plans are 'unsettling and unprecedented,' but she was 'not totally surprised' by them. The White House announced on X Monday evening, 'Multi-agency task forces are hitting the streets of Washington, D.C., cleaning up crime and keeping our neighborhoods SAFE,' adding authorities arrested 37 criminals, seized 11 illegal firearms and issued four narcotic charges. NPR reported small groups from the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration and other agencies were seen on the streets of Washington Sunday. The some 800 National Guard troops, which will be positioned in Washington starting this week, will not perform law enforcement tasks, The New York Times reported, citing Pentagon officials. When pressed about the National Guard's role, Defense Secretary Pete Hegeth said on Fox News Monday evening, 'We're not going to have National Guard just sitting there like this, seeing a crime committed and not do something about it. You can help somebody, interdict, temporarily detain like we did in Los Angeles, and hand over to law enforcement.' Trump's opponents quickly rebuked the administration's operation in D.C. Trump's old foe, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, pointed out on X, 'Violent crime in D.C. is at a 30-year low,' sharing data from January, which stated overall violent crime was down 35 percent from 2023. Another Trump rival, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, wrote: 'Donald Trump delayed deploying the National Guard on January 6th [2021] when our Capitol was under violent attack and lives were at stake. 'Now, he's activating the D.C. Guard to distract from his incompetent mishandling of tariffs, health care, education and immigration — just to name a few blunders.' Some of the president's critics believe the move has less to do with crime in D.C. and more to do with the administration's handling of documents related to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein's sex crimes. Last month, the Justice Department and FBI released a memo stating there was no so-called client list of powerful people who may have partaken in Epstein's crimes, that Epstein did, in fact, die by suicide, and 'no further disclosure [of information regarding Epstein] would be appropriate or warranted.' The memo sparked backlash, notably from Trump's own base, as it left many unanswered questions and concerns the government may be covering up materials that would be of interest to the public. Pete Buttigieg, who was transportation secretary under former President Joe Biden, blasted the federal takeover of Washington D.C. policing as 'dangerous, authoritarian actions' in a video posted to X. ' The president is doing this not in order to make the city safer— that's the job of local law enforcement — but to solve his own political problems. He needs to get his base talking and thinking about something besides his refusal to open up the Epstein files because he's mixed up in them,' Buttigieg said. Trump has not been accused of wrongdoing in relation to Epstein or his crimes. Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported DOJ officials told Trump earlier this year his name, among others, appeared in the Epstein files. Trump had socialized with the convicted sex offender decades ago and a mention in the files does not mean there was any wrongdoing. Senator Patty Murray, a Washington state Democrat, also claimed 'wannabe dictator' Trump wants to distract from the Epstein files. 'He's a pathetic wannabe dictator who wants to distract you from his connection to the Epstein files, skyrocketing costs, and his weak job numbers. Don't let him,' Murray wrote of Trump. Representative Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat, shared similar sentiments to other Trump critics: 'Trump's federal takeover of D.C. isn't about safety, it's about distracting Americans from, high prices, a bad jobs report, a falling economy, and the Epstein files.' 'I can tell you one thing for sure—crime is WAY up at the White House,' Representative Jim McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat, wrote. 'Don't fall for the distraction. Trump could release the Epstein Files right now if he wanted to. Why won't he?' The Independent has reached out to the White House and D.C. police for comment. Trump had asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to produce 'any and all pertinent' grand jury transcripts in the criminal cases of Epstein and his close associate Ghislaine Maxwell, but so far, judges have denied most of the requests. A federal judge in New York is still considering releasing testimony in Epstein's 2019 investigation. During his press conference Monday, Trump also suggested he would 'look at' crime in at least two other major cities, New York City and Chicago. Trump called Chicago a 'disaster,' and said Illinois Governor JB Pritzker was 'incompetent.' Pritzker - a Democrat - said he took Trump's diss as a 'compliment.' 'Let's not lie to the public, you and I both know you have no authority to take over Chicago. By the way, where are the Epstein files?' he wrote.
Fox News
3 days ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Trump administration declares DC crime emergency, deploys federal forces to city's streets
Jenn Pellegrino, chief spokesperson of America First Policy Institute, speaks with Fox News Digital about Washington, D.C.'s crime rates compared to other cities as federal forces are deployed by President Donald Trump.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
After D.C., Trump says he might use the National Guard to ‘take back' other cities. Can he actually do that?
Trump cited Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Baltimore and Oakland, Calif. as 'other cities also that are bad, very bad.' When President Trump announced his plan Monday to send 800 National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., to crack down on what he described as 'crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor' in the nation's capital, he also issued a warning to other cities around the country. "We're going to take back our capital," Trump said. "And then we'll look at other cities also.' But can Trump actually send federal forces elsewhere? And what cities might he target? Here's everything you need to know about the president's warning. What did Trump say about sending the National Guard into other cities? During his news conference on Monday, Trump singled out Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Baltimore and Oakland, Calif. as 'other cities also that are bad, very bad.' 'They're so far gone,' he continued. '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 D.C. and we're going to clean it up real quick, very quickly, as they say.' Beyond that, the president didn't elaborate on his plans. But he did issue what amounted to an ultimatum: 'self-clean up' or else. 'Other cities are hopefully watching this,' Trump said. 'Maybe they'll self-clean up, and maybe they'll self-do this.' But 'if they don't learn their lesson, if they haven't studied us properly,' he continued, 'then I'm going to look at New York in a little while. … And if we need to, we're going to do the same thing in Chicago, which is a disaster.' Later Monday, Trump issued an executive order directing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to coordinate with state governors and "authorize the orders of any additional members of the National Guard to active service, as he deems necessary and appropriate, to augment this mission." What does the law say about Trump's plans? Trump's actions in Washington, D.C., are legal. As you may remember from elementary school, D.C. isn't a state. It isn't part of any other state either. It doesn't have a constitution of its own. Instead, D.C. is what's known as a 'federal district,' and it's been mostly under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Congress since its founding in 1791. In 1973, Congress passed the Home Rule Act, which allowed D.C. residents to elect their own mayor and council members. But the law doesn't give D.C. complete autonomy. Even now Congress controls its budget. Congress also has the power to review and block local legislation. The president, meanwhile, still appoints D.C.'s judges — and he still leads its National Guard. He can also take control of the District's police force by invoking Section 740 of the Home Rule Act, which is precisely what he did Monday. But Trump doesn't have the same powers across the rest of the country. Under current law, governors are in charge of each state's National Guard and the police are largely controlled locally. Trump has already challenged some of these rules. Over the objections of state and local officials, he deployed nearly 5,000 National Guard members and U.S. Marines to Los Angeles in June after a new round of ICE workplace raids sparked protests marred by sporadic violence. California Gov. Gavin Newsom swiftly sued the administration to end the mobilization, claiming that Trump was violating the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which prohibits the president from deploying the armed forces to participate in domestic law enforcement operations unless he declares that an insurrection is underway. A federal judge agreed with Newsom, but an appeals court blocked that ruling. Now Trump and Newsom are facing off in a three-day trial that began on Monday in San Francisco to determine whether Trump has the authority to do what he did in L.A. in other cities such as Chicago and New York. A verdict is expected Wednesday. What does Trump hope to accomplish by mentioning other cities? Whether the president sends federal forces into other cities remains to be seen; much depends on the outcome of the current trial in California (and any subsequent appeals). In the meantime, Trump was clear on Monday: He wants to pressure Democratic-run cities to change certain policies he disagrees with. One policy he mentioned was cashless bail, which eliminates the requirement for defendants to pay money to be released from jail before their trial. Supporters say the policy addresses disparities in the justice system, where those who can afford bail are released while those who cannot remain incarcerated; critics (like Trump) say that it puts the public at risk by releasing potentially dangerous individuals back into the community. Maybe other cities will 'get rid of the cashless bail thing and all of the things that caused the problem,' Trump said Monday. 'I mean, if you go back, this whole thing with cashless bail is a disaster. So many problems came that we never had before.' Have local officials pushed back? Yes. As Yahoo News reported Monday, 'the president's description of crime in Washington, D.C., is not reflected in official statistics, which show that the city had its lowest violent crime rate in over 30 years in 2024. The rates of homicide, sexual abuse, assault with a dangerous weapon and robbery all fell by at least 25% compared to 2023, according to statistics from the U.S. attorney's office for the district.' On Sunday, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, cited similar statistics to claim that Trump is prioritizing politics over policy. 'If the priority is to show force in an American city, we know he can do that here,' Bowser told MSNBC. 'But it won't be because there's a spike in crime.' Officials elsewhere have repeated that message. On Monday, the U.S. Conference of Mayors responded to Trump's actions and statements by touting a "nationwide success story" of plummeting crime rates. An FBI report released Aug. 5 found that between 2023 and 2024, violent crime nationwide dropped by 4.5%, with murder and non-negligent manslaughter falling by nearly 15%. "Ultimately, the best public safety outcomes are delivered by local police departments and local officials, who know the communities," Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt, president of the mayors' conference, said in a statement. "America's mayors never see takeovers by other levels of government as a tactic that has any track record of producing results." Solve the daily Crossword
BreakingNews.ie
5 days ago
- Politics
- BreakingNews.ie
Washington finds itself at centre of Trump maelstrom as National Guard arrive
Some of the 800 National Guard members deployed by US president Donald Trump began arriving in the nation's capital on Tuesday. It comes after the White House ordered federal forces to take over the city's police department and reduce crime in what the president called — without substantiation — a lawless city. Advertisement The influx came the morning after Mr Trump announced he would be activating the guard members and taking over the department. The US president's bid to take over public safety in Washington reflects an escalation of his aggressive approach to law enforcement (Alex Brandon/AP) He cited a crime emergency — but referred to the same crime that city officials stress is already falling noticeably. The president holds the legal right to make such moves, up to a point. It remains unclear as the week unfolds how visible and aggressive the federal presence in Washington will be, how it could play out, who would be targeted, and how long it might last. Advertisement On Monday, Washington mayor Muriel Bowser said Mr Trump's freshly announced plan to take over the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and call in the National Guard was not a productive step. It is unclear how visible and aggressive the federal presence in Washington could be (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP) She laid out the city's case that crime has been dropping steadily and said Mr Trump's perceived state of emergency simply does not match the numbers. She also flatly stated that the capital city's hands are tied and that her administration has little choice but to comply. 'We could contest that,' she said of Mr Trump's definition of a crime emergency, 'but his authority is pretty broad'. Advertisement Ms Bowser made a reference to Mr Trump's 'so-called emergency' and concluded: 'I'm going to work every day to make sure it's not a complete disaster.' While Mr Trump invokes his plan by saying that 'we're going to take our capital back', Ms Bowser and the MPD maintain that violent crime overall in Washington has decreased to a 30-year low after a sharp rise in 2023. Carjackings, for example, dropped about 50% in 2024 and are down again this year. Washington mayor Muriel Bowser said crime in the city had been dropping steadily (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP) Ms Bowser, a Democrat, spent much of Mr Trump's first term in office openly sparring with the Republican president. She fended off his initial plans for a military parade through the streets and stood in public opposition when he called in a multi-agency flood of federal law enforcement to confront anti-police brutality protesters in summer 2020. Advertisement She later had the words 'Black Lives Matter' painted in giant yellow letters on the street about a block from the White House. In Mr Trump's second term, backed by Republican control of both houses of Congress, Ms Bowser has walked a public tightrope for months, emphasising common ground with the Trump administration on issues such as the successful effort to bring the NFL's Washington Commanders back to the District of Columbia. She watched with open concern for the city streets as Mr Trump finally got his military parade this summer. Her decision to dismantle Black Lives Matter Plaza earlier this year served as a neat metaphor for just how much the power dynamics between the two executives has evolved. Advertisement Now that fraught relationship enters uncharted territory as Mr Trump has followed through on months of what many DC officials had quietly hoped were empty threats. The new standoff has cast Ms Bowser in a sympathetic light, even among her long-time critics. 'It's a power play and we're an easy target,' Clinique Chapman, chief executive of the DC Justice Lab, said. A frequent critic of Ms Bowser, whom she accuses of 'over policing our youth' with the recent expansions of Washington's youth curfew, Ms Chapman said Mr Trump's latest move 'is not about creating a safer DC. It's just about power'. Ms Bowser contends that all the power resides with Mr Trump and that her administration can do little other than comply and make the best of it. Protesters demonstrate against Mr Trump's planned use of federal law enforcement and National Guard troops in Washington (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP) For Mr Trump, the effort to take over public safety in Washington reflects an escalation of his aggressive approach to law enforcement. The District of Columbia's status as a congressionally established federal district gives him a unique opportunity to push his tough-on-crime agenda, though he has not proposed solutions to the root causes of homelessness or crime. 'Let me be crystal clear,' attorney general Pam Bondi said during Mr Trump's announcement news conference. 'Crime in DC is ending and ending today.' Mr Trump's declaration of a state of emergency fits the general pattern of his second term in office: He has declared states of emergency on issues ranging from border protection to economic tariffs, enabling him to essentially rule via executive order. In many cases, he has moved forward while the courts sorted them out.
The Independent
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Trump's federal forces are ‘hitting the streets' of DC while critics claim takeover is attempted distraction from the ‘Epstein files'
President Donald Trump 's federal forces are 'hitting the streets' of Washington, D.C., while critics claim the takeover is an attempted distraction from the so-called Epstein files fallout. Trump announced Monday he was placing the D.C. police department under direct federal control and deploying the National Guard to 'rescue our nation's capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam, and squalor, and worse,' despite crime figures declining for the past two years. 'This is Liberation Day in D.C., and we're gonna take our capital back,' Trump said during a press conference. 'We're taking it back. Under the authorities vested in me as the president of the United States, I'm officially invoking Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act.' In response, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said the administration's plans are 'unsettling and unprecedented,' but she was 'not totally surprised' by them. The White House announced on X Monday evening, 'Multi-agency task forces are hitting the streets of Washington, D.C., cleaning up crime and keeping our neighborhoods SAFE,' adding authorities arrested 37 criminals, seized 11 illegal firearms and issued four narcotic charges. NPR reported small groups from the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration and other agencies were seen on the streets of Washington Sunday. The some 800 National Guard troops, which will be positioned in Washington starting this week, will not perform law enforcement tasks, The New York Times reported, citing Pentagon officials. When pressed about the National Guard's role, Defense Secretary Pete Hegeth said on Fox News Monday evening, 'We're not going to have National Guard just sitting there like this, seeing a crime committed and not do something about it. You can help somebody, interdict, temporarily detain like we did in Los Angeles, and hand over to law enforcement.' Trump's opponents quickly rebuked the administration's operation in D.C. Trump's old foe, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, pointed out on X, 'Violent crime in D.C. is at a 30-year low,' sharing data from January, which stated overall violent crime was down 35 percent from 2023. Another Trump rival, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, wrote: 'Donald Trump delayed deploying the National Guard on January 6th [2021] when our Capitol was under violent attack and lives were at stake. 'Now, he's activating the D.C. Guard to distract from his incompetent mishandling of tariffs, health care, education and immigration — just to name a few blunders.' Some of the president's critics believe the move has less to do with crime in D.C. and more to do with the administration's handling of documents related to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein 's sex crimes. Last month, the Justice Department and FBI released a memo stating there was no so-called client list of powerful people who may have partaken in Epstein's crimes, that Epstein did, in fact, die by suicide, and 'no further disclosure [of information regarding Epstein] would be appropriate or warranted.' The memo sparked backlash, notably from Trump's own base, as it left many unanswered questions and concerns the government may be covering up materials that would be of interest to the public. Pete Buttigieg, who was transportation secretary under former President Joe Biden, blasted the federal takeover of Washington D.C. policing as 'dangerous, authoritarian actions' in a video posted to X. ' The president is doing this not in order to make the city safer— that's the job of local law enforcement — but to solve his own political problems. He needs to get his base talking and thinking about something besides his refusal to open up the Epstein files because he's mixed up in them,' Buttigieg said. Trump has not been accused of wrongdoing in relation to Epstein or his crimes. Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported DOJ officials told Trump earlier this year his name, among others, appeared in the Epstein files. Trump had socialized with the convicted sex offender decades ago and a mention in the files does not mean there was any wrongdoing. Senator Patty Murray, a Washington state Democrat, also claimed 'wannabe dictator' Trump wants to distract from the Epstein files. 'He's a pathetic wannabe dictator who wants to distract you from his connection to the Epstein files, skyrocketing costs, and his weak job numbers. Don't let him,' Murray wrote of Trump. Representative Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat, shared similar sentiments to other Trump critics: 'Trump's federal takeover of D.C. isn't about safety, it's about distracting Americans from, high prices, a bad jobs report, a falling economy, and the Epstein files.' 'I can tell you one thing for sure—crime is WAY up at the White House,' Representative Jim McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat, wrote. 'Don't fall for the distraction. Trump could release the Epstein Files right now if he wanted to. Why won't he?' The Independent has reached out to the White House and D.C. police for comment. Trump had asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to produce 'any and all pertinent' grand jury transcripts in the criminal cases of Epstein and his close associate Ghislaine Maxwell, but so far, judges have denied most of the requests. A federal judge in New York is still considering releasing testimony in Epstein's 2019 investigation. During his press conference Monday, Trump also suggested he would 'look at' crime in at least two other major cities, New York City and Chicago. Trump called Chicago a 'disaster,' and said Illinois Governor JB Pritzker was 'incompetent.' Pritzker - a Democrat - said he took Trump's diss as a 'compliment.' 'Let's not lie to the public, you and I both know you have no authority to take over Chicago. By the way, where are the Epstein files?' he wrote.
