Up close in Washington, D.C.

     "I'm announcing a historic action to rescue our nation's capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam, and squalor and worse. This is Liberation Day in DC and we are going to take our capital back. We're taking it back."
          Donald Trump, August 11, 2025

Washington, D.C. doesn't need to be rescued by Trump. It doesn't need to be "taken back."

Washington, D.C., is an unusual city, but it is not conspicuous for its high crime rate. It is conspicuous because it is a majority-Democratic city, a majority-Black city, and a city that Republican politicians demonize because it represents the seat of government in contrast to the good-old-happy community they represent back home.

I asked my friend Jack if Washington, D.C., was really the hell-hole Trump describes. Jack Mullen grew up in Medford. We thinned pears together in the Naumes orchards in the mid-1960s before he went off to the University of Oregon and the Peace Corps. He now follows politics from his home in Washington, D.C.

Jack at a Nationals game. He is still a Duck and still an Athletics fan.

Guest Post by Jack Mullen

VIVA EL PRESIDENTE

Friends that live outside of Washington ask my reactions to the falderal that encompasses our nation’s capital.

My usual response is that daily life in Washington is pleasant enough, as long as I don’t concentrate on Donald Trump.

I enjoy living in a world capital city with all its accoutrements. I never tire of walking on the Washington Mall and looking up at the Capitol Dome. The Smithsonian museums are, at least so far, free. The Metro subway system is first class. My wife and I enjoy warm evening walks in our northwest Washington neighborhood, admiring our neighbors’ gardens and the canopy of trees that the city takes pains to nurture. The local government is well run by an energetic mayor with a top-notch staff.

Summer afternoon on the front porch

 In other words, President Trump’s description of a city needing rescue from “bloodshed, bedlam and squalor” is not only misleading, but is nothing more than a dystopian vision of our nation’s capital that, unfortunately, is shared by the MAGA movement. Every city has crime, and not all neighborhoods are as safe as ours. But the justification for installing 800 National Guardsmen and 200 or more federal agents is thin. This year violent crimes are down by at least by 25% from this time last year, a fact stated by FBI Director Kash Patel. So, what is Trump’s real motivation? Might it be racism? A distraction from the Epstein scandal? Or just acting on an anti-Washington feeling fueled by Ronald Reagan?

Washington is a historically Black city, and has a large black middle class. Many worked at good government jobs until DOGE tossed them and many other Washingtonians into the throes of unemployment.

Mayor Muriel Bowser’s success at nurturing Washington as the city of “Feds, Meds and Eds” has been put in jeopardy. Trump’s triple-whammy slices federal jobs, attacks education (Washington has seven major universities) and leaves medical science in the hands of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The impact on this city is likely to be devastating.

STATEHOOD?

Senator Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota knows that citizens of Washington D.C. bear the full responsibilities of citizenship, including taxation. The 801,000 residents of Washington pay more in taxes than their counterparts in 22 states, including Thune’s South Dakota. D.C. residents provide more tax revenue per capita to the federal treasury than any state. Washingtonians would love to elect two senators and a voting representative to Congress like Senate Majority Leader Thune’s South Dakota. Yet, Senator Thune would never consider legislation making D.C. a state. Our situation hasn’t improved since 1981 when Washington was tossed a crumb and allowed the privilege of voting for president.

Washington D.C., unlike the 50 states, has no control over the National Guard within our jurisdiction. The President may deploy the National Guard in Washington D.C. for 30 days, after which congressional approval is needed for further deployment. Does anyone doubt that, after 30 days, the military will remain on the streets of Washington?

As these hot August days roll by, we have 800 National Guard troops roaming our streets, sometimes stopping and searching every car that passes, as they have done around Dupont Circle. The 120 FBI agents are doing who knows what? Fifty deputy U.S. marshals as well as agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have been pulled from their normal jobs at the behest of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. Mr. President, where were these folks on January 6, 2021?

I keep receiving texts from friends inquiring if I feel safer now with the military on our streets. The answer is No.

The Tuesday morning after we learned of the military’s imminent arrival on the streets of our nation’s capital, I entered my neighborhood coffee shop with a “Viva El President” from the friendly Argentine waiter. He and I usually greet each other with a “Viva Peron” salute, but everything Trump does lends itself to gallows humor.

I expect my wife and I will drive downtown this weekend and check out the troops. We will make sure our seat belts are buckled and our turn signal functions. For me, this will be a trip down memory lane. As a Peace Corps volunteer in Guatemala, I recall truckloads of uniformed soldiers roaming city streets and the countryside. I know a Banana Republic when I see one.

[Note: To get daily delivery of this blog to your email go to: https://petersage.substack.com. Subscribe. Don't pay. The blog is free and always will be.]