The Real Reason Trump Federalized the DC Police (Hint: It’s Not What You Think)
Eyes on the ball, folks.
Donald Trump is politically weak right now. And when Trump’s weak, he does what he always does—tries to change the terrain and bait Democrats into a fight on his terms. He’s a master at this, and a lot of Dems love to take that bait.
Last week’s Republican media fixation on Sydney Sweeney’s jeans? That was a stunt to distract from the Epstein cover-up, which is hurting him with his own base. This week’s move to federalize DC police and flood the city with National Guard and FBI agents? Another stunt—this time to spark a national fight over crime and bury brutal economic numbers. It’s as transparent as it gets. And right now? It’s not working.
We’re barely a week removed from the Bureau of Labor Statistics telling us we’ve got the worst job market since Trump’s last presidency. It was so bad he fired the person in charge, blaming her for being a “communist Biden supporter.” Now we’ve got new data this morning showing prices are still climbing—core inflation is 3.1%—and Trump’s tariffs are only just starting to take effect.
In these moments, it’s critical to zoom in and look at what’s actually happening on the ground: the conversations taking place at the dinner table, and the voices of small business owners—who employ half of the U.S. workforce.
Take the story of Beth Benike that’s been making the rounds on TikTok. An Army veteran and founder of Busy Baby, she built a successful, independent Minnesota business making baby placemats, where she sourced her materials from China. In May, Trump’s 145% tariff suddenly added $230,000 to import her existing inventory—money she didn’t have. Products sat stranded in China. Beth, who had invested her life into her business and mortgaged her home, now had only weeks of stock left and was staring down losing both her business and her house. Despite pleading with both Democrats and Republicans to listen to her and actually give a shit, only one side of the aisle stood by her. Beth had to resort to a GoFundMe to survive. That’s not right.
Multiply Beth’s story by tens of thousands of small businesses nationwide who are struggling. These struggles ripple through entire local economies, costing jobs and ruining lives in communities across our country.
Now that we’ve re-grounded ourselves in reality—instead of Trump’s gaslighting narratives—we can pivot back to Trump’s latest distraction: federalizing the DC police.
Inside Democratic circles, the big question is: do we engage him on DC crime? Do we meet him head-on when he’s clearly lying? My answer: no. Not because it isn’t serious—it’s a gross abuse of power—but because it’s mostly a stunt. It’s the same playbook he used in Los Angeles: escalate, send in troops, look “tough,” distract from bad news.
On immigration, sure—there’s ground to fight on. Democrats can and should make the case for why our policies will keep Americans safe without sacrificing our humanity. Same reason I backed shining a spotlight on Trump’s wrongful deportations—people saw him go too far.
But DC crime is a different story. Trump’s approval is sliding fast—53% down to 44% in CBS, with other polls putting him in the 30s. His die-hards will keep pretending he’s Chairman Mao with “the best economy ever,” but voters aren’t buying it. Their lived reality doesn’t match his spin: rising costs, shrinking opportunity, and no path to prosperity.
This doesn’t mean silence. We should absolutely call this what it is—an outrageous escalation, an abuse of power, and an assault on DC residents’ rights. But it cannot derail the core issues that will win the midterms:
The economy—jobs, inflation, the fact Trump’s making both worse.
Health care—he’s kicking 20 million Americans off coverage by signing the Republican budget so billionaires can get another tax break. Trump is committing theft of the safety net we all dutifully pay into—promising to privatize Social Security that we pay forward, so we can benefit from it when we need it.
Corruption—his administration is a swamp no president has ever matched. If Democrats can focus here, we win. When they chase his distractions instead, we lose.
If Democrats stay disciplined on those three while elevating strong, fresh candidates in battleground races, we have a path to victory. People ask, “Why don’t Democrats do anything?” The answer: because without power, we can’t. And the only way to get it is to win over enough median voters in swing districts, even with gerrymandering stacked against us.
That means hammering the everyday questions voters actually live with: Can I buy a house? Start a family? Retire with dignity? Feel safe in my community? Trump wants the election on crime, safety, immigration—his turf. We win when it’s about the economy, inflation, and how his policies make life harder.
When we’re back in power, we can expose his corruption, hold him accountable for the Epstein cover-up, pass real fixes, and—yes—finally make DC a state so this crap can’t happen again. If Democrats get full control and still don’t make DC a state, I might light the whole thing on fire myself. Seven hundred thousand people are being treated like props in a political stunt.
But right now? We can’t afford to get dragged into a fight that helps him. It’s dangerous, it’s ugly, but it’s a trap. Stay focused—on the economy, health care, and corruption. Voters want stability and leaders who actually give a damn about them, who listen to their struggles, and who proactively respond with real solutions.
Trump wants the election about crime, safety, and immigration—his turf. We win when it’s about the economy, inflation, and how his policies make life harder. Don’t let Trump dictate the terms. That’s how we lost in 2016 and 2024. He couldn’t pull it off in 2020 because COVID swallowed everything—and he botched it spectacularly. We can’t wait for a crisis to save us again. Eyes on the ball. Stay focused. Stay grounded. Win on the things that actually touch people’s lives and mirror their lived experience.
I agree that we must focus on the basic issues that hurt people across the country. We also need to speak out against Trump’s lies and policies based on them and not make each new one primary. When we don’t criticize his lies and lie based policies too many people may think what he lied about was true. We have to multi/task and also keep the focus on the issues important to all.
Yes, he tries to distract with all sorts of moves because of the Epstein files. Every journalist and every interaction should always end with "and what about the Epstein files and your involvement?" Bring it back to what he fears most.