MAGA eager for D.C. patrols to spread to other cities
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National Guard members stand outside Union Station on Thursday in Washington, D.C. Photo: Kevin Dietsch via Getty Images
President Trump's MAGA movement sees his D.C. crackdown as being about more than just crime — it's an opportunity to deal another setback to liberals by expanding the movement in urban areas.
Why it matters: Despite the protests over Trump's stunning show of force on D.C.'s streets, MAGA's most vocal voices believe that if the anti-crime push is successful — and Trump is certain to declare it so — it could win converts in cities and help expand the movement's rural base.
- "We have an opportunity to show city folks that life doesn't have to be this way," one senior MAGA media figure told Axios. "There are things you can do to control crime. This definitely could spread to other cities, simply by demand."
Reality check: Trump's D.C. crime claims don't match the data. Violent crime is falling in the city, not rising, Axios D.C.'s Anna Spiegel reports.
- Plus, D.C.'s status as a federal city gives the president unique powers with the National Guard and federal law enforcement there.
- Any attempt by Trump to impose similar federal patrols in other Democrat-run cities likely would be met with the type of protests that Trump's immigration crackdown sparked in Los Angeles.
Such a move against local control — which historically has been a top cause for Republicans — also could fuel a political backlash against Trump and MAGA at a time when the president is desperate to maintain GOP control of Congress in the 2026 midterms.
- And even in D.C., Trump's efforts are facing legal hurdles. A federal judge on Friday got the administration to back off replacing the head of the city's police department with the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Driving the news: For now, MAGA is celebrating. Videos of homeless people's encampments being razed in D.C. and federal officers on patrol in the city are spreading like wildfire across right-wing social media accounts.
- MAGA-friendly podcasters are gleefully speculating about what other blue cities could get the same treatment. Cities Trump has slapped with the "high-crime" stereotype — Baltimore, Chicago, San Francisco and more — are being cited as logical next steps for federal intervention.
- D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser's office didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on how effective the crackdown has been so far, but Trump administration officials are releasing their own stats as part of a PR blitz.
The big picture: Trump's movement is dominant across rural America.
- Now MAGA thought leaders want to activate "citycons," as podcaster Jack Posobiec said on his show Thursday — urban Americans supposedly pushed to the right by crime concerns, widespread homelessness, locked-up CVS shelves and local governments' struggles to stop crimes affecting the quality of life.
- "The Trump administration is showing that every part of urban decay that the public hates is a choice," MAGA activist Charlie Kirk posted on X.
- "If D.C. is clearly better, cleaner, safer, and more pleasant a month from now, what excuse will the left have for every other city in the country?"
Between the lines: With or without the federal crackdown, crime rates are likely to be lower a month from now in D.C. and other cities.
- Several studies have shown that crime typically peaks in the summer and falls as the weather cools and juveniles return to school.
Zoom out: In the meantime, MAGA media is enjoying scenes from the D.C. crackdown.
- After a Justice Department employee was arrested in D.C. (and later fired) for throwing a sandwich at an officer as the increased patrols began, the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol account on X chimed in with video, saying, "Next time you're hangry, just eat the sandwich."
