President Donald Trump announced he would deploy the National Guard to Washington, D.C., and assume control of the city’s police force.
President Donald Trump announced he would deploy the National Guard to Washington, D.C., and assume control of the city’s police force.
Was this announcement a sign of creeping authoritarianism? A legitimate measure to combat crime in the nation’s capital city? Or just a publicity stunt? Newsweek contributors David Faris and Mark Davis debate:
David Faris:
Deploying the National Guard to Washington D.C. is an unconscionable abuse of federal power and another worrisome signpost on our road to autocracy. Using the military to bring big, blue cities to heel, exactly as «alarmists» predicted during the 2024 campaign, isn’t about a crisis in D.C. violent crime is actually at a 30-year low. President Trump is, once again, testing the limits of his power, hoping to intimidate other cities into submission to his every vengeful whim by making the once unimaginable—an American tyrant ordering a military occupation of our own capital—a terrifying reality.
Mark Davis:
In another masterstroke of messaging and practicality, President Trump has taken aim at crime in America’s capital city, vowing to use the resources under his control to «make Washington safe again.» No big city is ever safe enough, and there are cities with worse crime problems than D.C., but this is the city where Trump lives, as do countless politicians and media types who will criticize him while quietly enjoying a city with less violent crime. Democratic mayors and governors have done too little; Trump will act, and residents of every political stripe will benefit.
