Donald Trump has spent the last few days vowing to unveil the details of a new “beautification” initiative regarding Washington, D.C., which the president has said would involve moving homeless people “FAR from the Capital” and reducing crime rates. “Washington, D.C. will be LIBERATED today!” the Republican declared online as Monday got underway. “Crime, Savagery, Filth, and Scum will DISAPPEAR.”
As for how, exactly, he intends to do this, NBC News reported, “Trump announced this morning that he will federalize the Washington, D.C., police and deploy National Guard troops in an effort to fight crime.”
As far as the White House is concerned, this is the first in a series of related steps. After referencing New York City, Baltimore and Oakland by name, the president told the White House press corps in reference to his new gambit, “This will go further. We’ll starting very strongly with D.C.”
Crime rates in New York City, Baltimore and Oakland have already sharply improved, and while Trump has repeatedly insisted that crime in nation’s capital is “out of control,” in reality, crime in D.C. has dropped to levels unseen in decades.
Indeed, we can say this with some confidence because U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office is still promoting a press statement from earlier this year that boasts about violent crime in the city dropping to a 30-year low.
All of which leads to some awkward questions about why in the world Trump is doing this.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
Comments