PRESIDENT TRUMP took extraordinary measures Monday to implement a federal crackdown on crime in Washington, D.C., while warning other cities run by Democrats that the government stands ready to expand its enforcement efforts across the nation.

 

At a nearly two-hour press conference from the White House, Trump declared a “public safety emergency” in the nation’s capital and a cited a rarely used law that allows him to temporarily take control of the District’s police department.

 

In addition, Trump is deploying the National Guard to assist local and federal law enforcement with patrols.

 

“I’m announcing historic action to rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam, squalor and worse,” Trump said. “This is liberation day in D.C. and we’re going to take our capital back.”

 

Trump has been moving in this direction for several days, citing a recent attack on a former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) employee, who was severely beaten during an attempted carjacking last week.

 

The FBI had been assisting in police patrols since that incident, although Trump’s moves on Monday escalate federal involvement and represent a direct challenge to the District’s self-governance.

 

“Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty, criminal, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged-out maniacs and homeless people,” Trump said. “We’re not going to let it happen anymore.”

 

Democrats are furious and accusing the president of overreach.

 

“This is dictator-level stuff,” Democrats on the House Oversight Committee posted on X. “Deploying the military on DC’s streets only creates fear and chaos. Donald Trump will be held accountable for this brazen power grab.”

 

House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-K.Y.) plans to hold a hearing with Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D), Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) and D.C.’s Attorney General Brian Schwalb (D) in September to discuss Monday’s actions.

 

In a Monday press conference, Bowser called Trump’s actions “unsettling and unprecedented.”

 

“I’m going to work every day to make sure it’s not a complete disaster. Let me put it that way,” she told reporters.

 

Schwalb called the move “unprecedented, unnecessary, and unlawful.”

 

“There is no crime emergency in the District of Columbia,” he posted on X. “Violent crime in DC reached historic 30-year lows last year, and is down another 26% so far this year. We are considering all of our options and will do what is necessary to protect the rights and safety of District residents.”

 

D.C. City Council Member Charles Allen (D) called it “an extreme, outrageous, and dangerous move for our city and the safety of all our residents.”

 

“National Guard soldiers are trained for warfare & natural disasters, not for community policing. Every American should be deeply concerned with what they’re witnessing today,” Allen posted on X.

 

The district’s police union chairman Gregg Pemberton backed Trump’s move.

 

“We stand with the President in recognizing that Washington, DC, cannot continue on this trajectory,” he said in a statement. “Crime is out of control, and our officers are stretched beyond their limits. The federal intervention is a critical stopgap, but the MPD needs proper staffing and support to thrive. This can only happen by repealing the disastrous policies that have driven out our best officers and hindered recruitment.”

 

In tomorrow’s edition of The Movement, “President Trump’s effort to lessen crime in Washington, D.C. and launch a ‘beautification’ effort is clashing with a long tradition of Republicans criticizing and outright writing off the nation’s cities.” Click here to sign up & get it in your inbox.

 

Trump on Monday invoked a section of the D.C. Home Rule Act, which allows him to temporarily take control of the District’s police department if he determines “special conditions of an emergency nature exist.”

 

The Hill’s Brett Samuels writes:

 

“Trump also has the authority to activate the D.C. National Guard without local approval, though he is restricted in certain other actions by the Home Rule Act, which grants various powers to D.C.’s local government. National Guard troops will not be able to make arrests but will support local and federal law enforcement.”

 

Trump recently dispatched the National Guard to Los Angeles to deal with unruly protesters demonstrating against immigration raids.

 

A three-day bench trial began Monday to determine whether that move, which was opposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), violated a general prohibition on using federal troops as civilian law enforcement.

 

Trump on Monday also put other cities and states run by Democrats on notice.

 

“Other cities are hopefully watching,” Trump said, calling out Chicago and Los Angeles.

 

The Democratic Mayors Association (DMA) blasted Trump in a statement, arguing that “crime is down in most major cities.”

 

“If Trump actually cared about reducing crime, he wouldn’t have made unprecedented cuts to public safety programs that actually work,” the DMA said. “If Trump actually cared about our communities, he would be working with our cities, not against them. But the truth is Trump doesn’t care – he only wants to create yet another political charade to serve his own interests and distract Americans from his failures.”

 

Trump said Monday that he’s also taking action to clear out homeless encampments and to “beautify” the District.

 

“It’s embarrassing for me to be up here … talking about how unsafe and dirty and disgusting this once great capital was,” Trump said.

 

Trump has in the past mused about a broader federal takeover of the district, although that would require Congress to repeal the Home Rule Act of 1973, which gives Washington its current measure of self-government.

💡Perspectives:

• CNN: Trump has been on a roll but blowback could be looming.

• The Liberal Patriot: How deep is the Democratic bench?

• American Spectator: DC may be more receptive to a Trump takeover than many assume.

• The New Republic: How Dems can stop bickering and stop Trump.

• New York Post: Trump turns tables on Dems after years of law fare.

Read more: 

• Dems see weaponization blitz in moves from DOJ, intelligence leaders.

• Advocates fear Trump’s plans after directive for college admission data.

• Trump could be ‘wild card’ in NFL, ESPN media deal: 5 things to know.

• Red states lead push for MAHA soda bans.

• A federal judge refused the Justice Department’s request to unseal grand jury materials used to charge Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime accomplice of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

   

• President Trump said Monday his administration is “looking at” reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug. 

©  Justin Sullivan, Getty Images

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) wrote a letter to President Trump on Monday urging him to call off the redistricting wars that have spread across the country ever since Texas moved to redraw their maps ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

 

“This attempt to rig congressional maps to hold onto power before a single vote is cast in the 2026 election is an affront to American democracy,” Newsom wrote.

 

Newsom said that if Texas ends its efforts to redistrict, “we will happily do the same.”

 

This comes amid a spiraling political conflict in Texas.

 

Democratic legislators fled the state to deny the Texas legislature a quorum and delay a vote on the new maps.

 

Redistricting historically happens along with the new census each decade. Trump has called for a new census to be conducted that excludes those in the country illegally.

 

But Texas is undergoing mid-decade redistricting at the urging of Trump, who says the GOP can pick up five additional House seats with its new gerrymandered maps.

 

Other red and blue states are also considering redistricting, including California, Illinois, New York, Indiana and Missouri.

 

Newsom has called for a special election in November for voters to cast ballots on a newly redistricted map that will favor Democrats.

 

In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) are seeking to oust the missing Democratic legislatures from their seats.

 

A Texas judge granted Paxton a temporary restraining order in a lawsuit against former Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s (D-Texas) political group, which has been providing assistance to the Democrats.

 

Abbott has ordered the arrest of the missing Democrats. He says the Democrats will have to stay out of state for years if they hope to stop a vote on the new maps because he’ll continue to call for new special legislative sessions when the current one expires.

 

“If they show back up in the state of Texas, they will be arrested and taken to the Capitol,” Abbott said on “Fox News Sunday.” “If they want to evade that arrest, they’re going to have to stay outside of the state of Texas for literally years. And they might as well just start voting in California or voting in Illinois, wherever they may be.”

 

Many of the Texas Democrats are hiding out in Illinois with assistance from Gov. JB Pritzker (D).

 

“Texas law does not apply in the state of Illinois, and there’s no federal law that would allow the FBI to arrest anybody that’s here visiting our state,” Pritzker said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “So, it’s a lot of grandstanding.”

 

Trump on Monday blasted Pritzker, a potential 2028 presidential contender, calling him “an incompetent governor.”

 

“I understand he wants to be president, and I noticed he lost a little weight so maybe he has a chance, but Pritzker is a grossly incompetent guy,” Trump said.

 

Pritzker has faced scrutiny for gerrymandered maps in his own state, which heavily favor Democrats.

💡Perspectives:

• New Yorker: Can Dems fight Trump’s redistricting scheme.

• JD Vance: Blue states have already maxed out gerrymandering.

• MSNBC: Trump’s Oval Office chart charade can’t hide the truth.

• The Hill: Beyond redistricting, Democrats need a new agenda. Here’s where to start.

Read more: 

• Cornyn leans into Texas redistricting fight amid uphill reelection bid.

• Here are the top House Democrats at risk from GOP redistricting.

• 7 states most likely to follow Texas in redistricting.

• Gallego energizes Iowa voters amid 2028 speculation.

• Nancy Mace’s governor bid tees up volatile primary.

©  Greg Nash; Efrem Lukatsky, Associated Press; and Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool via Associated Press

European leaders are putting up a united front in defense of Ukraine ahead of President Trump’s meeting on Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.

 

Seven European leaders, led by French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, released a statement saying “the path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine.”

 

This comes amid fears Trump and Putin will seek to dictate an end to the three-and-a-half year war with little input from Ukraine and its president Volodymyr Zelensky, who will not be present for the Trump-Putin meeting.

 

“This is really a feel-out meeting, a little bit,” Trump said Monday. “President Putin invited me to get involved…I believe he wants to get it over with. I’ve said that a few times, and then I’ve been disappointed.”

 

“I’m going to tell him he’s got to end the war,” Trump added.

 

But Trump’s repeated assertion that an end to the war will require a “swapping of territories” has set off alarms with Ukraine and its allies, who fear Trump does not have Ukraine’s interests in mind as he enters negotiations with Putin.

 

“Of course, we will not give Russia any awards for what it has done,” Zelensky said in a video posted to Telegram. “The Ukrainian people deserve peace.”

 

Trump doubled-down on Monday, saying, “we’re going to try and get some of that territory back for Ukraine” but that “there will be land swapping going on.”

 

“I get along with Zelensky, but I disagree with what he’s done,” Trump added.

 

Merz invited Trump, Zelensky, the NATO secretary general and other European leaders to a virtual meeting Wednesday to discuss strategy.

 

Trump said he’d call the European leaders “immediately” after his meeting with Putin.

 

Trump has in recent weeks expressed frustration with Putin, threatening new economic sanctions and selling defensive munitions to Europe for Ukraine’s use.

 

However, the Trump administration has shown no appetite for further U.S. involvement in the war.

 

“We’re done with the funding of the Ukraine war business,” Vice President Vance said on Fox News. “We want to bring about a peaceful settlement to this thing.”

 

Trump said the next meeting would take place between Zelensky and Putin, and possibly himself. 

 

“Of course, our team is working with the United States — not a single day goes by without communication on how to ensure real peace,” Zelensky said in a weekend address. “We understand Russia’s intention to try to deceive America — we will not allow this. I greatly value the determination with which President Trump is committed to bringing an end to the killings in this war.”

 

MEANWHILE…

 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is moving ahead with a military offensive to take Gaza City amid intense international backlash over the hunger crisis in the region.

 

Netanyahu, who spoke with Trump over the weekend, said he expects the expanded offensive will be over “fairly quickly.”

 

Netanyahu faces a fraying political alliance in the U.S., with many on the MAGA right increasingly calling on the U.S. to cut Israel loose, in addition to many Democrats and other progressives.

 

“Right now, what Netanyahu has done, what the Israeli government has done, is become almost a pariah state, and I fear very much that Israel now is looked in a very, very unfavorable light by people all over the world, all over the world, not just in the United States,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

 

Netanyahu is defending the move, saying he has “no choice” but to defend his own country’s interests.

 

“Given Hamas’s refusal to lay down its arms, Israel has no choice but to finish the job and complete the defeat of Hamas,” Netanyahu said at a weekend press conference. “

 

“Israel’s security Cabinet instructed the IDF to dismantle the two remaining Hamas strongholds in Gaza City and the Central Camps,” he added. “Contrary to false claims, this is the best way to end the war, and the best way to end it speedily.”

 

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Monday he’d recognize a Palestinian state, joining the leaders of France, Britain and Canada in signaling they would do so.

 

CHINA WATCH…

 

• Trump demurred when asked about the Monday deadline for the U.S. and China to extend their tariff truce.

 

“We’ll see what happens,” he said. “We’ve been dealing very nicely with China…the relationship is very good with President Xi and myself.”

 

• Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan will visit the White House on Monday after Trump called for him to be ousted from his job over his ties to China, the Wall Street Journal reports.

 

• Chipmakers Nvidia and AMD agreed to pay the U.S. government 15 percent of artificial intelligence (AI) chip sales to China in order to secure export licenses. The unusual arrangement comes after the companies pushed to resume chip sales to China after a months-long pause.

 

• Trump is urging China to increase its orders of U.S. soybeans, arguing it would help reduce the trade deficit between Washington and Beijing.

💡Perspectives:

• The Bulwark: Trump plans to carve up Ukraine.

• The Hill: H-1Bs are wreaking havoc on American workers.

• The Hill: What is going on with AP’s Hezbollah coverage?

• The Hill: Trump wants to turn back time.

Read more: 

• On the front lines in eastern Ukraine, peace feels far away.

• Putin’s Ukraine land pitch sparks firm European response ahead of Trump summit.

• Putin flexes India, China ties ahead of planned Trump meeting.

• Trump gives Israel tacit green light on Gaza takeover.

• High costs after tariffs pose threat to Trump and GOP.

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