New York (AP) -President Donald Trump was among several hundred law enforcement officers, troops of the National Guard and federal agents in a US Park Police Institute Center in one of the most risky quarter of DC. When the cameras rolled, he offered a forceful message about crimes, a topic that he has been hammering for decades when he thanked them for their efforts.
“We don’t play games,” he said. “We will make it safe. And then we will continue to other places.”
The Republican President proudly promotes the work of around 2,000 troops of the National Guard in the city, which are borrowed from at least six Republican countries by Allied governors. They are available to confront what Trump describes as a wave of crime in the democratic city, although in Washington, like dozens of cities led by Democrats, violent crimes has dropped considerably since a pandemic high.
Trump and his allies are confident that his breathtaking decision to send troops to a huge American city is a great political winner who reminds the voters as to why they chose him last autumn.
Democrats say this is a struggle for which they strive for.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore, a veteran of the army, threw Trump’s move as a risky political stunt, who is supposed to distract the American people from its inability to overcome the continuing inflation, rising energy prices and huge health insurance cuts, including the most significant political challenges.
“I am deeply insulted when someone who actually wore the uniform that he would use the life of these men and women and the activation of these men and women as political farmers,” Moore told the Associated Press.
Trump’s extraordinary federal power takes place because the transient president has threatened to send troops to other American cities led by Democrats, even if voters raise concerns about his authoritarian tendencies. And it could be a factor for both sides in the elections in Virginia and New Jersey this autumn – and the further followings of the next year.
Within the strategy of the White House
The President and the White House see Trump’s decision to take over the DC police authority as a political blessing and strived to publish the efforts.
The White House offered a Livestream from Trump’s appearance on Thursday evening, and on Wednesday Vice President JD Vance and Defense Minister Pete Hegseth made a surprise visit to the Union Station, DCS Busy Transit Hub, to thank members of the National Guard.
Every morning, Trump’s press releases distributed statistics in which the law enforcement measures of the previous night are described, including total arrests and how many of these people are illegal in the country.
The strategy reflects Trump’s approach to illegal immigration that the Democrats have often forced to illegally defend in the country, including some that have committed stern crimes.
An official of the White House, who talked about the background to discuss internal considerations, dismissed concerns about the perception of the federal crossing in Washington and said that public security was a fundamental requirement and a priority for the residents.
Trump defended his efforts during an interview about “The Todd Starnes Show” on Thursday.
“Because I sent in people to stop the crime, they said:” He is a dictator. “The real people, even Democrats, call me and say: ‘It is incredible’ how much it helped,” he said.
The White House hopes to exploit its actions in DC as a test case to inspire changes in other cities, although Trump has the legal authority to intervene in Washington, which he does not have elsewhere, because the city is partially federal control.
“Everyday Americans who support Commonsense politics would consider the removal of more than 600 dangerous criminals from the streets of our nation’s capital,” said Taylor Rogers, spokesman for the White House. “The Democrats are still unpopular because they resist the efforts to stop violent crime and protect citizens.”
Democrats bow in
Moore, the democratic governor of Maryland, proposed a dim motivation behind Trump’s approach, which focuses almost exclusively on cities with huge minority population groups, which are led by democratic mayors of color.
“We see again how these incredibly dangerous and biased tropics are used by someone about these communities, who is not ready to enter them, but be ready to stand in the Oval office and to defend them,” said Moore.
Before Trump called the national guard to Washington, Democratic Mayor on the whole of the country advertised their success in reducing violent crimes.
The mayor of Cleveland, Justin Bibb, who heads the Democratic Mayors Association, found that more than half of the 70 largest democratically guided cities in the country have decreased this year.
“He shoots the racial division and shoots fear and chaos,” said Bibb. “We need someone who wants to be an employee, not a dictator.”
Democratic strategists recognize that Trump’s GOP has had a significant advantage over the questions of crime and immigration in recent years – problems that Trump has tried to connect in a long time. But as a democratic civil servant against the takeover of the federal government in Washington, party strategists offer careful optimism that Trump’s tactics will backfire.
“This is an opportunity for the party to tackle us for a long time that plagued us for a long time,” said Daniel Wessel, experienced democratic strategist. “The facts are on our side.”
A closer look at the numbers
The FBI statistics published this month show that murder and non-negative manslaughter in the USA in 2024 have decreased by almost 15% compared to the previous year and a decline continued that has been seen from Coronavirus Pandemic era since a top crime.
In the meantime, recent public surveys show that the Republicans had an advantage over Democrats in terms of crime.
A CNN/SSR survey carried out in May showed that about 4 out of 10 US -growing people said that the views of the Republican Party were in relation to crimes and the police, while 3 out of 10 said they were more agreed with the Democrats’ views. About 3 out of 10 said that no party reflected her opinion. Other surveys in recent years have shown a similar gap.
Trump also had a significant advantage over the Democrat Kamala Harris in the 2024 elections. About half of the voters said Trump could better deal with crimes.
At the same time, the Americans have more concerned about the scope of the presidential power since Trump took office a second time in January.
An AP-NORC survey carried out in April showed that about half of the US-growing people said that the president had “too much” power in the way the US government operates today, compared to 32% in March 2024.
The unusual military presence in a US city, in which in some cases by masked federal agents, control points were occupied in Washington gives some people in the capital of the nation a feeling of fear and chaos into daily life.
At least one day care center was closed on Thursday when childcare staff feared the military campaign, which had an raise in the immigration authority, while local officials made concerns about the public school openings of the next week.
Moore said that he would block every pressure from Trump to send the national guard to Baltimore.
“I have seen nothing or any conditions on site that I think she would justify the mobilization of our National Guard,” he said. “They think they gain the political argument. I do not give as about the political argument.”
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AP writers Amelia Thomson-Deveaux and Chris Megerian in Washington contributed.
