NationalWatch

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was slammed on social media Monday after she dismissed President Trump’s efforts to combat crime in Washington, D.C. as “unhinged” with other top Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, receiving similar pushback. 

“As you listen to an unhinged Trump try to justify deploying the National Guard in DC, here’s reality,” Clinton posted on X on Monday, along with a DOJ press release from early January of this year, in conjunction with Trump’s press conference announcing the federalization of the nation’s capital to combat crime. “Violent crime in DC is at a 30-year low.”

Clinton’s post immediately drew pushback from conservatives on social media, including from inside the White House, with many making the case that crime in Washington, D.C. has gotten out of control.

“On top of being a big-time loser, you’re also a massive liar,” White House deputy press secretary Abigail Jackson posted on X along with an article headline about a D.C. police commander being suspended for allegedly altering crime data.

PIRRO CALLS OUT DC LAWS LETTING ‘YOUNG PUNKS’ OFF THE HOOK FOR VIOLENT CRIMES

“If Hillary Clinton thinks DC is safe, she should go move to Anacostia or Navy Yard,” conservative communicator Steve Guest posted on X.

Jeffries posted a similar reaction to Clinton on social media saying, “Violent crime in Washington, D.C. is at a thirty-year low. Donald Trump has no basis to take over the local police department. And zero credibility on the issue of law and order. Get lost.”

Conservatives on social media ripped Jeffries as well.

“A selection of headlines in our nation’s capital this month,” NRCC deputy executive director Jack Pandol posted on X along with several news headlines of recent violent crime in DC. 

“Why do Democrats always take up for thugs, violent criminals, and illegals over law abiding citizens?”

“Democrats are lining up to oppose crime being lower in DC,” Outkick founder Clay Travis posted on X. “It’s bonkers.”

TRUMP VOWS TO MAKE DC ‘SAFER’ AND ‘BEAUTIFUL’ AS CAPITAL BATTLES CRIME AND HOMELESSNESS

“Democrats like Jeffries would rather preserve dangerous cities than admit their policies fail,” GOP Congressman William Timmons posted on X.

“IN FACT, murder is the most violent and accurately measured crime, and the D.C. murder rate in 2024 was 83% higher than in 2012,” the social media account for the nonprofit research institute Just Facts posted on X.

“Jeffries’ stat is deceitful because it ignores the FBI’s warning against “making any direct comparison” of its crime data over time given that “changes in police procedures, shifting attitudes toward crime and police, and other societal changes can affect the extent to which people report and law enforcement agencies record crime.”

Trump said in the Monday press conference that he is federalizing the D.C. police department to curb spiraling violence. 

“The murder rate in Washington today is higher than that of Bogota, Colombia, Mexico City, some of the places that you hear about as being the worst places on Earth, much higher,” Trump said Monday. “This is much higher. The number of car thefts has doubled over the past five years, and the number of carjackings has more than tripled. Murders in 2023 reached the highest rate, probably ever. They say 25 years, but they don’t know what that means because it just goes back 25 years can’t be worse.” 

Trump whipped out charts showing the media that the nation’s capital allegedly suffers worse crime trends than other cities worldwide, calling on them to “take a look at numbers” as he rattled off the data’s findings. 

“Look at these. Baghdad is… we doubled up on Baghdad. Panama City, Brasilia, San Jose, Costa Rica, Bogota, Colombia. Heavy drugs. Mexico City, I mentioned Lima, Peru, all double and triple what they are. So do you want to live in places like that? I don’t think so. I don’t think so. And I think the people in this room, if you wrote correctly, you’d see. Look at the kind of numbers we have. D.C. 41 per 100,000 (for homicides in 2023). No. 1 that we can find anywhere in the world. Other cities are pretty bad, but they’re not as bad as that. That the way you want to live? The reporters of the world? Juvenile offenders and crimes against persons as they say, it’s getting worse, not getting better. It’s getting worse,” he continued. 

The nation’s capital in the following years has been rocked by shootings that have left innocent children shot and dead, a trend of juveniles committing carjackings that have turned deadly in some cases, shoplifting crimes and attacks on government employees, summer interns and others, including the fatal shooting of 21-year-old congressional intern, Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, in June.

Trump’s opponents have cited crime statistics showing crime in Washington is on the decline. Violent crime is down 26% this year, in comparison to the same timeframe in 2024, according to Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department. Likewise, assaults with a dangerous weapon are down 20%, and homicides are down by 12%. 

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“This is Liberation Day in D.C., and we’re going to take our capital back,” he said. “We’re taking it back under the authority vested in me as the president of the United States. I’m officially invoking section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act. You know what that is. And placing the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal control. … In addition, I’m deploying the National Guard to help reestablish law, order and public safety in Washington, DC. And they’re going to be allowed to do their job properly.” 

President Donald Trump called the spiraling crime in Washington, D.C., “embarrassing” as he prepares for high-stakes meetings with foreign leaders, pointing directly to his highly anticipated Friday meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

“This is an emergency,” Trump told the media during his press conference Monday morning announcing he is federalizing the. D.C. police force to curb crime in the city. “This is a tragic emergency. And it’s embarrassing for me to be up here.” 

“You know, I’m going to see Putin. I’m going to Russia on Friday. I don’t like being up here talking about how unsafe and how dirty and disgusting this once beautiful capital was, with graffiti all over the walls,” he continued. 

Trump is scheduled to meet with Putin in Alaska Friday, which is strategically located between D.C. and Moscow. 

Trump declared a crime emergency in the nation’s capital Monday and announced the National Guard and hundreds of other law enforcement officials from various agencies will descend on the city to prevent further crimes. 

TRUMP IS THREATENING TO ‘FEDERALIZE’ DC WITH NATIONAL GUARD AND MORE. HERE’S HOW THAT COULD PLAY OUT

“Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged-out maniacs and homeless people,” he said. “And we’re not going to let it happen anymore. We’re not going to take it.” 

Washington, D.C.’s crime rate spiraled followed the national increase in violent crimes in 2020, when social justice protests and riots broke out in cities nationwide at the height of pandemic.

TRUMP VOWS TO MAKE DC ‘SAFER’ AND ‘BEAUTIFUL’ AS CAPITAL BATTLES CRIME AND HOMELESSNESS

The crime trends in the nation’s capital have ebbed and flowed in the subsequent years, including carjackings, shootings and murders spiking before Trump reclaimed the Oval Office in January. The city has been plagued by a handful of high-profile crimes in recent weeks, including the fatal shooting of a congressional intern in June, the fatal shooting of a pair of Israeli embassy staffers in May, and a brutal attack on a former Department of Government Efficiency staffer earlier in August. 

Local Democrat leaders have slammed Trump over the move to federalize the police, including D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb arguing on X that there is no crime emergency, pointing to how violent crimes have fallen “26% so far this year.” 

Trump’s press conference comes just days ahead of his planned meeting with Putin Friday in Alaska to discuss the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. 

PRESIDENT TRUMP INCREASES FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT PRESENCE IN DC FOLLOWING VIOLENT CRIME SURGE

“I think we’ll have constructive conversations,” Trump said Monday, previewing the Friday meeting with Putin. “Then after that meeting — immediately, maybe as I’m flying out, maybe as I’m leaving the room — I’ll be calling the European leaders who I get along with very well. And, you know, I have a great relationship, I think, with all of them, and I get along with Zelenskyy. But, you know, I disagree with what he’s done very, very severely disagree. This is a war that should have never happened, wouldn’t have happened. But I’ll be speaking to Zelenskyy. The next meeting will be with Zelenskyy and Putin or Zelenskyy and Putin and me. I’ll be there if they need, but I want to have a meeting set up between the two leaders.”

Trump said he will know if Putin is sincere about making aa deal to end the war within minutes of meeting with him. The president added that “land swapping” between the two nations will likely be part of the deal. 

“We’re going to have a meeting with Vladimir Putin. And at the end of that meeting, probably in the first two minutes, I’ll know exactly whether or not a deal can be made,” he said. 

“How do you know,” a reporter responded. 

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“Because that’s what I do. I make deals,” Trump shot back before moving on to another question. 

As part of his renewed New York City mayoral campaign, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo is proposing “Zohran’s law” to prevent high-income individuals from occupying rent-stabilized apartments. The proposal is a pointed jab at his opponent, Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani, who occupies a rent-stabilized apartment in Astoria, Queens. 

“Rent-stabilized apartments when they’re vacant should only be rented to people who need affordable housing, not people like Zohran Mamdani,” Cuomo told reporters in a video posted on social media. 

Cuomo, who resigned as governor of New York in 2021 in the face of multiple controversies, told Mamdani over the weekend that it’s “time to move out.” The former governor’s message, posted on X along with an edited video of Mamdani admitting he pays “$2,300 for my one bedroom in Astoria,” has amassed more than 33 million views. 

“You don’t need to be renting rent-stabilized units to wealthy people,” he continued. “Otherwise, what you are doing is you are abusing the system. I am going to propose not renting out [rent-stabilized] apartments, by law, except to a person who actually needs affordable housing. And, I’m going to call it ‘Zohran’s law’ because it’s an abuse of the system.”

CUOMO CALLS OUT NYC MAYORAL CANDIDATE MAMDANI OVER ALLEGED RENT-STABILIZED APARTMENT: ‘MOVE OUT IMMEDIATELY’

Chief among Mamdani’s now-infamous progressive policy proposals is his commitment to freezing rents. 

“As Mayor, Zohran will immediately freeze the rent for all stabilized tenants, and use every available resource to build the housing New Yorkers need and bring down the rent,” according to Mamdani’s campaign website. 

SOCIALIST’S NYC MAYORAL WIN SPARKS FIERCE DEBATE OVER FEASIBILITY OF RADICAL POLICY AGENDA

Mamdani has accused incumbent Mayor Eric Adams of appointing Rent Guidelines Board members to raise rents on stabilized apartments. While landlords and advocates argue the freeze would be illegal, Mamdani can accomplish this goal by appointing members to the board who wouldn’t vote to increase the rent. 

Former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s board voted to freeze the rent three times during his tenure. 

Cuomo was the favorite to win the Democratic nomination in June. But since Mamdani’s political upset and Cuomo’s subsequent decision to remain in the race as an independent candidate, the former governor has ramped up his social media strategy, opting for snappy videos and punchy attack lines. 

Cuomo had previously called the democratic socialist’s plan to freeze rent a “politically convenient posture,” and said such a move would hurt landlords who would be “unable to maintain their buildings.”

As Cuomo’s fiery social media posts about Mamdani’s rent-controlled apartment made the rounds, de Blasio – who has yet to endorse a candidate in the race to run the nation’s most populous city – fired back at his governor. 

“I did a rent freeze and almost 2 million hard-working New Yorkers benefited. @ZohranKMamdani wants to do a rent freeze. You know who doesn’t want to do a rent freeze? @andrewcuomo, and he thinks he can trick us into forgetting that,” de Blasio trolled on X. 

In a prior post, Cuomo told his now more than 100,000 followers that because of Mamdani, “Somewhere last night in New York City, a single mother and her children slept at a homeless shelter,” and called on him to “move out immediately and give your affordable housing back to an unhoused family who need it.”

“No matter which way you cut it: Zohran Mamdani is a rich person. You are actually very rich. Yet you and your wife pay $2,300 a month, as you have bragged, for a nice apartment in Astoria. That should be housing for someone who needs it. We are in the middle of a historic affordability crisis. Millions of low income New Yorkers need this apartment and an apartment like it. Yet your apartment remains rented to rich people who don’t need it,” Cuomo continued. 

During a campaign event on Monday, Mamdani responded to Cuomo’s freshly proposed law “that will keep the rich out of New York’s affordable housing.”

“What do we know about this policy proposal beyond the fact that it seeks to evict me from my apartment?” Mamdani questioned on Monday.

“Like so much of Andrew Cuomo’s politics, it is characterized by a petty vindictiveness. It leaves far more questions than it has answers. How many New Yorkers would this apply to? How many New Yorkers would be evicted from their apartments? How many New Yorkers would have their lives upended by a former governor who is responding to the fact that he was handily beaten by a tenant of a rent-stabilized apartment?” Mamdani asked. 

“I live rent-free in his head,” Mamdani trolled Cuomo, arguing he had many years to implement such policies as governor but is now only focused on trying to reckon with a “political defeat.” 

Soon after Mamdani’s criticism, the Cuomo campaign unveiled his proposal to protect rent-stabilized apartments from being occupied by high-income individuals. 

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“Under Cuomo’s proposal, when a rent-stabilized apartment becomes vacant, the incoming individual income would be capped so that the annual rent makes up at least 30 percent of that income. For example, if an apartment rents for $2,500 a month ($30,000 per year), the new tenant’s income could not exceed $100,000,” according to the plan. 

The Cuomo campaign also clarified that “Zohran’s law” would only apply to vacant apartments. 

President Donald Trump has renewed his call for Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, to undergo a cognitive test. 

“‘Congresswoman’ Jasmine Crockett is a Low (Very!!!) I.Q. Individual, much in the mold of the AOC Plus Three Gang of Country Destroying Morons – Only slightly dumber,” Trump wrote on TRUTH Social on Monday. 

“Each of these political hacks should be forced to take a Cognitive Exam, much like the one I recently took while getting my ‘physical’ at our GREAT Washington, D.C., Military Hospital (WR!),” Trump said. “As the doctors said, ‘President Trump ACED it, something that is rarely seen!’ These Radical Left Lunatics would all fail this test in a spectacular show of stupidity and incompetence. TAKE THE TEST!!!

REP. JASMINE CROCKETT CALLS TRUMP A ‘PIECE OF S—‘ DURING LIBERAL RALLY

Trump previously said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., should take a cognitive test in June when the progressive “Squad” leader demanded his impeachment over the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. 

Meanwhile, as the White House pushes Republican states to redistrict mid-cycle ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, Crockett has accused Trump of pushing a “white supremacy agenda” and “diluting the voices of people of color.” The Trump administration asserts that Democratic states have engaged in “gerrymandering” for years and encouraged illegal immigration to boost their congressional influence. 

In Texas, Democratic state lawmakers fled the state in an effort to stop the vote on a GOP redistricting plan that likely would have resulted in Republicans picking up five House seats. 

Crockett has accused Trump of hurling the low IQ insult as a racially-coded tactic to insult “people of color,” including “The Breakfast Club” host Charlamagne tha God. 

TRUMP CHALLENGES AOC AND JASMINE CROCKETT TO INTELLIGENCE TEST AFTER CALLING THEM ‘VERY LOW IQ’

“Newsflash, Wannabe Dictator: I don’t care how many times you shake the Etch A Sketch trying to redraw these lines,” Crockett wrote on X last week. “I’m not disappearing. I’ll be back, still on your behind every step of the way. We’ve already been over this. I’ve got the degrees, the credentials, and the receipts. If you’re looking for ‘low IQ,’ try looking in the mirror – or at your own Cabinet.” 

Despite the president describing her as having a low IQ, Crockett said Trump has the “most incompetent Cabinet in the history of this country,” referring to the Signal-gate scandal earlier this year. 

Crockett has also dubbed Trump a “Temu dictator.” At a progressive rally in Phoenix, Arizona, earlier this month, the congresswoman said on stage, “Donald Trump is a piece of sh–.” 

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“This is a person who has a problem with people of color. Period,” she told CNN. “I don’t care how many Black MAGA [are] out there with [their] hats, I want to be clear, when we look at who it is that he’s kicking out of this country, it’s people of color.” 

President Donald Trump shared new details on Monday about his plan to take control of public safety in Washington, D.C., following a brutal attack on a former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffer, but D.C. residents aren’t convinced. 

Trump announced on Monday that he is activating the District of Columbia National Guard and seizing control of the Metropolitan Police Department after floating the idea since last week’s assault in Washington’s Logan Circle. 

Some Washington residents who spoke to Fox News Digital called it a “terrible idea” that “doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

“I think D.C. politics should stay with D.C., and, unfortunately, the federal government is apparently overstepping their bounds right now, so I hope that D.C. is allowed to govern itself, as well as police itself,” one Washington resident told Fox News Digital ahead of Trump’s announcement. 

TRUMP IS THREATENING TO ‘FEDERALIZE’ DC WITH NATIONAL GUARD AND MORE. HERE’S HOW THAT COULD PLAY OUT

Trump controversially federalized the California National Guard amid anti-ICE protests that delved into riots in Los Angeles in June. Protesters were rejecting the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportations and Trump’s robust immigration crackdown.

TRUMP ADMIN CUTTING $20M IN DC SECURITY FUNDING AFTER FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT ORDERED TO INCREASE PRESENCE

The president bypassed Gov. Gavin Newsom’s authority to deploy National Guard troops to support ICE deportation. It was the first time a president federalized the National Guard without the governor’s request in more than 60 years. 

Now, the tension between local and federal powers is unfolding in the nation’s capital. But just like in California, many Washington residents have concerns about seeing “troops on our streets.”

“We have laws for a reason,” one resident told Fox News Digital. 

“Privatizing security is a terrible idea, and I think anything that Trump does is garbage,” another Washington resident added. 

Despite their apprehension about National Guard troops patrolling the nation’s capital, many residents said something needs to be done to address crime in Washington, D.C.

While the Department of Justice indicated a 30-year low in violent crime last year, concerns about the city’s safety linger, with one resident telling Fox News Digital, “The city is getting dangerous.”

“I think it’s a good idea,” one resident said of Trump’s new plan. “It’s something that needs to be done for the city to be safe. Right now, we’re not safe. The kids and the teenagers are doing everything. So yeah, I think that’s a great idea.”

And another Washington resident said, “We need all the protection that we can get in the city, because the city is really getting dangerous,” telling Fox News Digital that she has to “make sure to come home before sundown” and she is afraid of getting robbed when she gets off public transportation.  

“Things do seem out of control and desperate, but I don’t know what kind of numbers to take, what numbers to read. One minute they’ll say crime is out of control. Next minute, they will say crime is down a certain percentage. It’s kind of confusing, and I don’t know who to believe in and which way to go, to be honest,” a Washington resident said, articulating the dichotomy between the low crime statistics and the alarming crime stories. 

But another D.C. resident said, “There’s no way he should be in control of anything,” and Washington, D.C., “should be a state,” so the district has more power to make decisions for itself. 

“I don’t think it’s necessary,” another Washington resident added. “I do think there needs to be some change within [the] Metropolitan [Police Department] because safety is an issue.”

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She added: “It needs to be localized.”

Fox News Digital’s Diana Stacy contributed to this report. 

Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., vowed to “change the laws” in D.C. to crack down on what she described as a surge of young people committing violent crimes in the nation’s capital — part of a broader effort President Donald Trump announced Monday that includes deploying hundreds of National Guard troops and temporarily seizing control of D.C. police. 

Speaking at a White House press briefing Monday, Pirro lamented the share of crime in D.C. she said is being committed by so-called “young punks” in the city, whom she said are often granted probation or other lenient sentences due to their age. 

“That changes today,” Pirro vowed, flanked by President Trump and other Cabinet members. 

TRUMP IS THREATENING TO ‘FEDERALIZE’ DC WITH NATIONAL GUARD AND MORE. HERE’S HOW THAT COULD PLAY OUT 

“I see too much violent crime being committed by young punks who think that they can get together in gangs and crews and beat the [heck] out of you or anyone else,” Pirro said. “They don’t care where they are.”

“But they know that we can’t touch them, because the laws are weak,” she said. “I can’t touch you if you’re 14, 15, 16, 17 years old, and you have a gun.” 

“We need to go after the DC Council and their absurd laws. We need to get rid of this concept of ‘no cash bail,’” she said. “We need to recognize that the people who matter are the law-abiding citizens,” Pirro added. “And it starts today.”

FBI OUSTS FORMER ACTING DIRECTOR, AGENT INVOLVED IN J6 PROSECUTIONS, WITH MORE EXPECTED

Pirro’s remarks came during a broader press conference during which Trump also vowed to deploy hundreds of D.C. National Guard troops into the nation’s capital, in a bid to “reestablish law order and public safety” in D.C.

Trump vowed on Truth Social just one day earlier to evict homeless persons from that nation’s capital. “The Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY,” Trump said on social media. 

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“We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital. The Criminals, you don’t have to move out. We’re going to put you in jail where you belong,” he said on Truth Social.

Violent crime in Washington, D.C., is currently down to a 30-year low. 

President Donald Trump announced Monday that he is activating National Guard troops and is taking over the Metropolitan Police Department to tackle crime in Washington, after beefing up federal law enforcement presence in the nation’s capital Saturday. 

“I’m deploying the National Guard to help reestablish law, order and public safety in Washington, DC,” Trump told reporters at a Monday press conference. “And they’re going to be allowed to do their job properly.”

Trump also said that he would federalize the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington to respond to crime, placing it under the authority of Attorney General Pam Bondi. 

National Guard troops are reserve forces that are mobilized in response to state and federal operations, including natural disasters, and are typically overseen by their respective state governments. However, Trump controversially deployed National Guard troops from California to respond to immigration riots in June, bypassing the California Gov. Gavin Newsom to dispatch the troops. 

The federal government oversees the District of Columbia National Guard. 

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said that Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll will operationalize the D.C. National Guard, and signaled that more National Guard troops could be roped into the deployment down the line. 

“You will see them flowing into the streets of Washington in the coming week,” Hegseth told reporters Monday. “At your direction as well, sir, there are other units we are prepared to bring in. Other National Guard units, other specialized units. They will be strong, they will be tough, and they will stand with their law enforcement partners.” 

Trump’s remarks come just after he promised Washington would be “LIBERATED” from “Crime, Savagery, Filth, and Scum” in a post on Truth Social Monday morning. He said in the post that the “days of ruthlessly killing, or hurting, innocent people, are OVER!” 

Trump floated the idea of taking over Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department and utilizing National Guard troops to manage crime in Washington Wednesday, following the assault of a former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffer on Aug. 3 in Washington’s Logan Circle. 

TRUMP THREATENS TO FEDERALIZE DC AFTER EX-DOGE EMPLOYEE ‘BIG BALLS’ VIOLENTLY BEATEN

“What a shame – rate of crime, the rate of muggings, killings and everything else, we’re not going to let it, and that includes bringing in the National Guard, maybe very quickly, too,” Trump told reporters Wednesday at the White House. 

Trump also told reporters at the time he was open to taking over Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department because crime in the nation’s capital is “ridiculous.” 

While a temporary federal takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department is justified in cases of emergency, Trump’s move will likely be challenged in court over whether the situation in Washington qualifies as an emergency. 

Trump has historically railed against violence in Washington, and said Tuesday that crime is “totally out of control” in the nation’s capital. 

Meanwhile, crime in Washington is on the decline. Violent crime is down 26% this year, in comparison to the same timeframe in 2024, according to Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department. Likewise, assaults with a dangerous weapon are down 20%, and homicides are down by 12%. 

WATCH: TRUMP HINTS HE WILL FEDERALIZE DC SOON, BRING IN NATIONAL GUARD AFTER ‘BIG BALLS’ ATTACK

Washington’s Mayor Muriel Bowser challenged Trump’s description of the city during an interview with MSNBC Sunday, and voiced concerns about the possibility of activating the National Guard to tackle the city’s crime. 

“Any comparison to a war-torn country is hyperbolic and false,” Bowser said.

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“I’m concerned about them not being used efficiently, and I just think that’s not the most efficient use of our Guard,” Bowser said. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

This is a breaking news story and will be updated. 

Zohran Mamdani, New York City’s Democratic mayoral nominee, launched a “Five Boroughs Against Trump” tour in the Big Apple on Monday, as President Donald Trump’s agenda takes center stage on the New York City campaign trail. 

Mamdani began his anti-Trump tour alongside Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., in Manhattan on Monday morning. He plans to visit Brooklyn on Tuesday, Staten Island on Wednesday, the Bronx on Thursday and Queens on Friday, Fox News has confirmed. 

The 33-year-old self-described socialist’s tour is a rejection of the Trump administration’s sweeping second-term agenda and his so-called “authoritarian” attack on working New Yorkers, specifically, immigration and health care reform. 

“There is no borough that will be free from Trump’s cruelty,” Mamdani said on Monday. “We will feel the pain of this legislation, whether we are in Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens or Staten Island, and we will shine a light this week and every week on the costs of this vision that is coming out of Washington, D.C.”

TRUMP CAUTIONS THAT NY WILL ‘NEVER BE THE SAME’ IF ‘COMMUNIST’ MAMDANI IS ELECTED

“Donald Trump is waging a full-scale assault on American democracy, dismantling our institutions, attacking our universities and our scientific research base, using government power to serve himself and his donors, and targeting New York City because New Yorkers have always seen him for what he is – a narcissistic, wannabe dictator,” Nadler said during the event on Monday.

NY DEMS WHO HAVE YET TO ENDORSE MAMDANI UNITE IN HIS DEFENSE AGAINST TRUMP

At the opening “Manhattan Against Trump” event, Mamdani was joined at the 1199 Service Employees International Union (SEIU) by Nadler, NYC Councilmember Carmen De La Rosa, NYC Councilmember Keith Powers, Assemblymember Harvey Epstein, Former Manhattan Borough President Ruth Messinger and 1199SEIU member Peggy Vujovick. 

Mamdani has tied former Gov. Andrew Cuomo to Trump in recent weeks, as the latter remains in the race to run New York City as an independent candidate, despite losing the Democratic primary to Mamdani in June.

Incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who has developed his own public relationship with the president, is also running as an independent, and CEO of the Guardian Angels, Curtis Sliwa, is the Republican nominee. 

“Comrade Mamdani is the American people’s worst nightmare,” White House spokeswoman, Abigail Jackson, told Fox News Digital. “His communist policies will crater our economy, increase crime, crowd out Americans with free health care for illegal immigrants, and defund the brave men and women of law enforcement who keep us safe.”

The White House added that “Mamdani’s idea of ‘immigration reform’ is no borders and amnesty for all the violent criminal illegal aliens that Joe Biden released into our country. The American people have repeatedly rejected this Communist agenda and the more Mamdani shares his radical policies, the more the American people will recoil.” 

As House members return to their home districts during the August recess, Democrats are uniting against Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” which narrowly passed through Congress last month, as congressional Democrats seek a united message ahead of competitive midterm elections expected next year. 

“New York City needs a leader who won’t give Trump an inch, who won’t flinch or bargain away our rights,” Nadler added. “With Zohran Mamdani as mayor, we’ll have a leader who will defend our hospitals, our schools and our neighbors from Trump’s devastating policies. With the right mayor, with the right leadership, we can blunt Trump’s attacks.

The New York Times reported last week that Trump recently spoke on the phone with Cuomo and has been speaking with associates about which candidate has the best chance to beat Mamdani in November. Meanwhile, Mamdani has described how his administration would be Trump’s “worst nightmare.”

The president was quick to criticize Mamdani when the socialist shocked the political world and secured the Democratic nominee to become the next mayor of New York City in June, calling him a “100% Communist Lunatic.”

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“We see far too many parallels between Donald Trump and Andrew Cuomo, far too many stories that make clear that both administrations have been characterized by corruption, by a sense of impunity, by an inability of an executive to understand that no means no, a prioritization of the interests of billionaires over working people, and an agenda that is driven by little else beyond the retention and accumulation of power,” Mamdani said Monday. 

President Donald Trump is weighing whether to deploy up to 1,000 National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., as early as this week, Fox News has learned, in an effort to help deal with what he characterized as a surge in violent crime. 

The plans come just one day after Trump vowed on Truth Social to evict homeless persons from that nation’s capital. “The Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY,” Trump said on social media. “We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital. The Criminals, you don’t have to move out. We’re going to put you in jail where you belong.”

Trump’s plans, which are expected to be detailed further at a 10 a.m. press conference Monday, would likely involve members of the D.C. National Guard, or the 2,700-member National Guard force that acts at the express authority of the commander in chief.

Unlike other branches, Trump would not have to get the sign off of local authorities to act — likely making their activation a tempting option.

FBI OUSTS FORMER ACTING DIRECTOR, AGENT INVOLVED IN J6 PROSECUTIONS, WITH MORE EXPECTED

When speaking to reporters in the Oval Office last week, Trump railed against what he described as a “ridiculous” level of crime in the nation’s capital, buffeted most recently by the assault on a former DOGE staffer earlier this month.

“We want to have a great, safe capital,” Trump said last week. “And we’re going to have it.”

Trump also told reporters that his White House lawyers are looking into ending the Home Rule Act, a law passed by Congress in 1973 that gave Washington, D.C., residents the right to elect their own mayor and local representatives. 

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also told reporters last week that Trump had ordered law enforcement personnel to increase their presence in the capital, though the additional details on the scope and timeframe of that presence remain unclear. 

Trump is expected to address those plans in a press conference Monday morning. 

However, for Trump, delivering on this promise could be fraught with long-term legal complications — in part, because crime in the city is actually down to its lowest point in nearly 30 years.

FEDERAL JUDGES GRILL TRUMP LAWYERS OVER ‘LIBERATION DAY’ TARIFFS ON EVE OF ENFORCEMENT

Violent crime in the first seven months of 2025 has dropped by roughly 26% compared to 2024, according to data compiled by the D.C. Police Department and released earlier this month. Overall, crime in the nation’s capital has dropped by roughly 7%.

On Sunday, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller said in an interview with NewsNation that Washington, D.C., “is more violent than Baghdad.” 

Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser, for her part, told MSNBC in an interview Sunday that “Any comparison to a war-torn country is hyperbolic and false.”

However, it’s not the first time Trump has sought to crack down on crime in the nation’s capitol — an effort he has returned to frequently, including during his first term in office.

Trump in March signed an executive order, “Making DC Safe and Beautiful Task Force,” designed to address issues with a city he has long derided as “filthy,” “horribly run” and “crime-ridden,” among other things. “We want to have a great, safe capital,” he told reporters. “And we’re going to have it. And that includes cleanliness and it includes other things.”

However, those powers aren’t indefinite, experts explained to Fox News Digital.

Trump does have the authority to activate the 2,700-member D.C. National Guard without the approval of local officials. Guard troops provide “mission-ready personnel and units for active duty in the armed services” in Washington, D.C., according to their website.

Beyond that, Trump’s ability to exercise authority in the nation’s capital is bound by the Home Rule Act. 

In the more than 50 years since that law was passed, “there really hasn’t been a serious conversation about ending home rule governance,” George Derek Musgrove, a history professor at the University of Maryland in Baltimore County, told Fox News in an interview.

“And the problem with our federal system is that there are places where Trump really doesn’t have any supporters, and therefore, with the limits of executive power, really doesn’t have that much sway,” Musgrove said. “And he’s constantly probing for ways around that.”

Other options available to Trump aren’t without their own limits. In order to call up the local police force for any meaningful length of time, as Trump has suggested, a president must be able to assert “special conditions of an emergency nature,” according to the 1970s law.

“If D.C. doesn’t get its act together, and quickly, we will have no choice but to take federal control,” Trump said last week. 

However, that’s easier said than done, individuals familiar with the law told Fox News Digital.

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“DC is just a tempting target because there’s not even a lot of legal gymnastics you have to do in order to exert tremendous power [in a city with ]a 90% Democratic jurisdiction. He has it already,” Musgrove said.

“But it is morally questionable, I think, and violates democratic principles,” he added.

President Donald Trump’s week will culminate in a high-stakes summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, where the two leaders are expected to discuss the war in Ukraine and the broader state of U.S.–Russia relations on the global stage.

The summit, scheduled for Friday, has drawn international scrutiny amid concerns that Washington and Moscow could attempt to broker terms for ending the conflict without formally involving Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, leaving him only a tacit role in negotiations.

ZELENSKYY THANKS NATO, EUROPEAN LEADERS FOR BACKING HIS PUSH TO JOIN TRUMP‑PUTIN SUMMIT

Trump has previously said that Putin and Zelenskyy were close to a ceasefire deal but signaled that war-weary Kyiv would have to concede significant territory, an outcome that Ukrainians and many European allies oppose.

Russian forces currently occupy approximately one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory stretching from the Russian border to Crimea — including regions vital to the country’s economy, rich in minerals, industry, and home to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.

Both the White House and the Kremlin have acknowledged Zelenskyy’s request to join the talks, though no formal invitation has been extended to the Ukrainian leader. If granted a seat at the table, it would mark the first face-to-face meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin since the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022.

The summit comes as Russia’s war grinds into its third year and fifth month, with Moscow showing little sign of abandoning its efforts to erode Ukraine’s sovereignty and reassert the territorial influence of the former Soviet empire.

PUTIN ALLY WARNS ‘TITANIC EFFORTS’ ARE UNDERWAY TO SINK TRUMP SUMMIT OVER UKRAINE WAR

The Kremlin said in a statement on Saturday that Trump and Putin are expected to “focus on discussing options for achieving a long-term peaceful resolution” in Ukraine. “This will evidently be a challenging process, but we will engage in it actively and energetically,” the statement added.

‘The US has the power to force Russia to negotiate seriously’

Over the weekend, several European leaders voiced support for Zelenskyy’s push to attend this week’s summit, amid growing concerns that Kyiv’s long-term security could be negotiated without its direct involvement.

The leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Finland and the European Commission said in a joint statement that any diplomatic solution brokered between Trump and Putin must uphold the security interests of both Ukraine and Europe.

ZELENSKYY WON’T CEDE TERRITORY FOR PEACE DEAL AHEAD OF TRUMP‑PUTIN SUMMIT

“The U.S. has the power to force Russia to negotiate seriously,” European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told Reuters on Sunday. “Any deal between the U.S. and Russia must have Ukraine and the EU included, for it is a matter of Ukraine’s and the whole of Europe’s security,” she added.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte also voiced support for Zelenskyy’s attendance at the meeting and called the summit an opportunity to measure how serious Putin is about “bringing this terrible war to an end.” 

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Zelenskyy thanked European leaders for their support and said that “the end of the war must be fair.”

“I am grateful to everyone who stands with Ukraine and our people today for the sake of peace in Ukraine, which is defending the vital security interests of our European nations,” he said.

President Donald Trump is expected to hold a news conference at the White House on Monday to discuss crime in Washington. D.C., as federal agents deploy to the streets. 

The press conference is scheduled for 10 a.m. ET in the White House briefing room. Trump said on social media on Sunday that the news conference on crime and “beautification” will “not only involve ending the Crime, Murder, and Death in our Nation’s Capital, but will also be about Cleanliness and the General Physical Renovation and Condition of our once beautiful and well maintained Capital.”

“We are not going to allow people to spend $3.1 Billion Dollars on fixing up a building, like the Federal Reserve, which could have been done in a far more elegant and time sensitive manner for $50 to $100 Million Dollars,” Trump wrote on TRUTH Social. “The Renovation would have actually been better, and we would have saved $3 Billion Dollars, Traffic Jams, and never-ending Construction.” 

Trump described D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser – who publicly clashed with Trump during the George Floyd riots in 2020 – “a good person who has tried, but she has been given many chances, and the Crime Numbers get worse, and the City only gets dirtier and less attractive.” 

TRUMP VOWS TO MAKE DC ‘SAFER’ AND ‘BEAUTIFUL’ AS CAPITAL BATTLES CRIME AND HOMELESSNESS

“The American Public is not going to put up with it any longer,” the president wrote. “Just like I took care of the Border, where you had ZERO Illegals coming across last month, from millions the year before, I will take care of our cherished Capital, and we will make it, truly, GREAT AGAIN! Before the tents, squalor, filth, and Crime, it was the most beautiful Capital in the World. It will soon be that again. Thank you for your attention to this matter — See you tomorrow at 10 A.M.!” 

The president has reignited his warnings about a federal government takeover of Washington, and said he may even deploy the National Guard over recent crime. 

Bowser told MSNBC on Sunday that “it is always the President’s prerogative to use federal law enforcement of the National Guard even.” Bowser said multiple times throughout the interview that the District is not experiencing a spike in crime. 

PRESIDENT TRUMP INCREASES FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT PRESENCE IN DC FOLLOWING VIOLENT CRIME SURGE

Meanwhile, on Sunday, police instituted a juvenile curfew in the popular Navy Yard neighborhood, after a stolen gun was discharged during a large gathering of young people late on Saturday. The incident came even as the White House had deployed a surge of federal law enforcement officers in the city over the weekend. 

Trump also said the homeless population would have to move “immediately,” posting photos of encampments and trash on the streets. 

“There will be no ‘MR. NICE GUY,’” Trump posted. “We want our Capital BACK.”

Last week, Trump teased taking federal control of D.C. after former Department of Government Efficiency employee Edward “Big Balls” Coristine was brutally beaten during an attempted carjacking by teenage suspects. 

“Local ‘youths’ and gang members, some only 14, 15, and 16-years-old, are randomly attacking, mugging, maiming, and shooting innocent Citizens, at the same time knowing that they will be almost immediately released,” Trump wrote. “They are not afraid of Law Enforcement because they know nothing ever happens to them, but it’s going to happen now!” 

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Trump said D.C. law must be changed to prosecute minors accused of violent crimes as an adult and to “lock them up for a long time, starting at age 14.”

Fox News’ Mark Meredith and Alexandra Hoff contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump recently spoke to the South Carolina Republican Party’s Silver Elephant Gala through a phone that Sen. Lindsey Graham held up to a microphone.

Trump, who endorsed Graham for re-election earlier this year, continued expressing his support for the senator while speaking on the phone.

Trump said the senator has his “full endorsement,” calling him a “great guy,” saying that Graham has always been there for him when he needed him and he “won’t forget it.”

CONSERVATIVE BACKLASH ERUPTS AFTER TRUMP’S GRAHAM ENDORSEMENT: ‘I AM NOT WITH TRUMP AT ALL WITH THIS ONE’

“Thank you for your surprise call, Mr. President!” Graham said in a post on X that also featured footage of Trump’s remarks about him. 

“With your support, I’ll keep delivering the America First agenda to the great people of South Carolina. I’m glad to have been part of the most awesome six months in modern history led by President @realDonaldTrump.”

Graham, who has served in the Senate since 2003, is facing Republican primary challengers.

TRUMP ENDORSES SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM FOR RE-ELECTION: ‘HE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN’

Paul Dans, the former director of the 2025 Presidential Transition Project at the Heritage Foundation and who is one of Graham’s challengers, attended the event where Trump spoke by phone.

“Lindsey Graham’s terrified—his Senate seat’s at risk against me, his toughest challenger yet. After 32 years of broken term-limit promises, he’s done. Clinging to President Trump won’t save him from SC’s America First Patriots who see his grift. #LindseyPanic #PrezTrumpPlsHelpMe,” Dans wrote in a post on X.

LINDSEY GRAHAM DRAWS DEMOCRATIC SENATE CHALLENGER WHO PREVIOUSLY LOST CONGRESSIONAL RACE

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Graham will be up for re-election in 2026.

A group of former FBI, intelligence, diplomatic and national security officials released a letter blasting FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino for firing several bureau agents, saying they were targeted for not being loyal to President Trump.

The group, which dubs itself The Steady State, claims Agents Brian Driscoll, Michael Feinberg and Walter Giardina were fired as part of a campaign to dismantle the FBI’s “long-standing independence” while also setting it up as a “tool of political loyalty.”

The Steady State also claimed the agents were canned because they were not loyal to President Donald Trump, before accusing the administration of appointing Patel and Bongino to powerful roles despite not having resumes that meet the “basic standards” to lead the “world’s premiere law enforcement agency.” 

“It is not about reform. It is about control. The aim, it seems, is to transform the FBI from a respected, constitutionally grounded investigative service into a personal enforcement arm of a political figure,” the letter reads. “We have seen these dynamics abroad—leaders who demand loyalty from security services not to the law, but to themselves. These regimes do not end well.”

FBI OUSTS FORMER ACTING DIRECTOR, AGENT INVOLVED IN J6 PROSECUTIONS, WITH MORE EXPECTED

“The FBI has long been a bulwark against such corruption: an institution where rule of law and civil liberties are held in balance with the demands of national security,” the letter continued. “Its independence is not a bureaucratic feature; it is a democratic necessity.”

The Steady State told their friends and colleagues in the FBI that they recognize the pressure they are under.

“The nation is watching, and will be inspired by the FBI. And history will remember,” the letter concluded.

Last Thursday, the FBI ousted Driscoll, the former FBI acting director, as well as others, including Giardina, a special agent at the FBI who played a role in the investigation of Trump trade advisor Peter Navarro. Also let go was Steve Jensen, the acting director in charge of the Washington Field Office.

KASH PATEL TORCHES ‘CONSPIRACY THEORIES’ ABOUT BONDI FEUD AMID MAGA FUROR OVER EPSTEIN FILES

Driscoll, for his part, served as acting director of the FBI prior to the confirmation of Patel, and Jensen played a key role in the January 6 investigations.

Senior FBI officials told the trio they needed to leave by Friday.

FBI DEPUTY DIRECTOR DAN BONGINO SLAMS NEW YORK TIMES FOR ‘POORLY THOUGHT-OUT HIT PIECE’

The FBI, Bongino and Patel declined to comment on Fox News Digital’s questions about The Steady State’s claims and on reasons why the agents were removed from their positions.

MSNBC journalist Ken Dilanian shared on social media a copy of the letter from Patel to Giardina.

“This document provides official notice that you are being summarily dismissed from your position at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and removed from the federal service, under my authority as the FBI Director, effective immediately,” Patel wrote. You have exercised poor judgment and a lack of impartiality in carrying out duties, leading to the political weaponization of the government.”

FBI’S TOP BOSS KASH PATEL SAYS BUREAU RAN COVER FOR HILLARY BUT IT ALL ENDS UNDER TRUMP

Former FBI Agent Phil Kennedy, who has been vocal on social media regarding the new regime’s handling of personnel matters, shared The Steady State’s letter, referring to the firings as the recent FBI “purge.”

“Walter Giardina, the disgraced anti-Trump Agent who worked on Jack Smith’s documents case with Kash’s pilot, has reportedly been terminated by the FBI,” Kennedy wrote in another post. “It’s a Bureau bloodbath.”

News of the agents’ firings comes months after thousands of FBI personnel in February were ordered to fill out a questionnaire asking detailed questions about possible roles in the investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riots.

The questionnaire, first reported by Fox News Digital, sparked concern that it could be used to retaliate against agents involved in the January 6 investigations. Those concerns reached a fever pitch later that month, after then-Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove ordered the bureau to compile a list of all current and former personnel who worked on January 6 cases.

The Trump administration has not yet said whether it will move to act against the individuals involved.

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In February, President Trump declined to answer questions over whether his administration would remove FBI employees involved in the investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot, telling reporters only that he believes the bureau is “corrupt” and that then-FBI director nominee, Patel, would “straighten it out.”

Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., addressed whether he will run for president again in 2028 during an interview that aired Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“Let’s not worry about that,” he told host Dana Bash. “I am going to be 84 years of age next month, as a matter of fact. I think that speaks for itself.”

Sanders said that “what is more important” is educating, organizing and giving “working-class people an agenda” to understand that “we can, in fact, provide a decent standard of living for all our people.”

Bash suggested to Sanders that without leadership, a “very hungry, energized base with an idea of what they want” will not evoke change.  

SEN BERNIE SANDERS NAMES 2 THINGS TRUMP HAS DONE RIGHT

The senator remained steadfast that “strong grassroots movements will bring forth the appropriate leadership.” He did not want to name anyone he supports politically to “take up” what Bash called “the Bernie Sanders mantle.”

BERNIE SANDERS GETS UP DURING INTERVIEW AFTER ‘NONSENSE’ QUESTION ABOUT AOC

Sanders ran for president during the 2016 and 2020 campaigns. He has been conducting a “Fighting Oligarchy Tour” around the U.S. for much of this year. 

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On Sunday, Sanders is in Asheville, North Carolina. The venue for the tour stop had to be changed from one that holds 2,400 to one that seats about 7,200, Blue Ridge Public Radio reported. 

Senate Republicans faced a choice recently: Remain in session and confirm more of President Trump’s nominees, or finally abandon Washington for the vaunted August recess.

Senators hung around – a little while – knocking out some of the President’s nominees for administration positions. But not all. That drew the ire of some conservatives, Trump loyalists and President Donald Trump himself.

Trump seethed at Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., for requiring the Senate to run lengthy parliamentary traps and incinerate valuable floor time to confirm even non-controversial nominees. The President finally unloaded on the New York Democrat in a digital coup de grace, telling him to “GO TO HELL!”

It’s notable that Trump has not yet met with Schumer or House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., during his second term. But then again, this is a two-way street. And Democrats remember multiple tumultuous meetings with Mr. Trump during the last time he was in office. It culminated in verbal grappling between the President and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, and ended with Democrats abandoning the meeting after only a few moments.

TRUMP TELLS SCHUMER TO ‘GO TO HELL’ OVER SENATE NOMINEE DEAL FUNDING DEMANDS AFTER NEGOTIATIONS COLLAPSE

So, it’s far from certain any such meeting would yield anything remotely productive.

But back to the “August recess.”

First, it’s important to establish that members of the House and Senate are not on “summer vacation.” Sure, there are always some breaks to visit with family and friends. Lawmakers are people, too. But truly, this is not a “break.” Lawmakers are always “on.” Not everything they do is centered around Washington. Any congressman or senator worth their salt will tell you that spending time back in their home states or districts is just as important – if not more so – than what goes down on Capitol Hill. Meeting with constituents. Visiting businesses. Conducting town hall meetings. Stopping by local coffee bars. Breaking bread at diners. Chatting up the local press corps. 

Members also use this longer respite for political travel and fact-finding missions overseas. These “CODELS” – short for “Congressional Delegation” – are a critical function for lawmakers to build bridges with foreign leaders and make their marks on how the U.S. approaches the rest of the globe. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and former House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., have recently led groups on trips to Israel. At least one other major trip is booked for later this month.

So, the “August recess” is not inherently a “bad” thing. It’s an essential part of the job and probably one of the biggest misnomers in American politics. 

Still, many Americans simply dismiss August as a “vacation” for House members and senators, and it is a challenging optic for Congress.

Which brings us back to the tension between staying in session to get “something” done and returning home.

RECESS ON ICE AS REPUBLICANS HUNKER DOWN FOR HIGH-STAKES NOMINEE BLITZ

It’s clear the Senate could have stayed in session to plow through more of President Trump’s nominees. Schumer and other Democrats simply weren’t going to relent and allow Republicans to confirm a slate of nominees “en bloc.” That’s where the Senate greenlights a large slate of nominees all at once and approves them either by unanimous consent or via voice vote. The Senate confirms the nominees all at once. The House certainly could have stayed in session to hammer out a few spending bills ahead of the deadline to fund the government by October 1.

But here’s a stark reality – especially for the Senate:

Lawmakers and staff desperately needed a break.

Period. Full stop.

Since May, the Senate in particular has conducted multiple overnight, round-the-clock and weekend sessions. Not just a few. The Senate voted deep into the night or overnight on the Big, Beautiful Bill. Then the Senate was back for late-night sessions confirming nominees. 

Yes. This is the people’s business. But the floor staff and support teams were exhausted. Senate leaders were mindful of that. And that’s to say nothing of the lawmakers themselves.

It’s anecdotal, but lawmakers probably needed a break from one another, too. That makes them happier – and probably more productive when they return to Washington. 

But this still doesn’t solve the political dilemma facing Republican senators with a substantial core of their party demanding they remain moored in Washington to grind out nominees.

And it may not satisfy President Trump, either.

There’s lots of Senate talk now about “changing the rules” to accelerate the confirmation of nominees. 

One thing is for sure: the Senate won’t change the “rules” to expedite the confirmation process. The Senate boasts 44 standing rules. It takes 67 votes to break a filibuster on an actual rules change. But what Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., could do is back the Senate into a special parliamentary posture where he can initiate a new “precedent” to confirm different types of nominees. That’s a maneuver that late Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., executed to confirm some of former President Obama’s nominees. The same with former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to confirm Supreme Court nominees.

DEMS DIG IN, TRUMP DEMANDS ALL: NOMINEE FIGHT BOILS OVER IN SENATE AS GOP LOOKS FOR A DEAL

“New precedents” in the Senate require some complicated parliamentary wrangling. But only a simple majority is necessary to make good on this gambit for nominees. So, it’s easier and much more plausible than “changing the rules.”

To the lay person, a new “precedent” doesn’t sound important. But there’s a reason why the Senate only has 44 standing rules and a voluminous book of precedents. You can accomplish a lot in the Senate if you’re able to concoct a new precedent.

And note that it’s not just Republicans who want to change the way the Senate does things for some lower-tier, non-controversial nominees. Some Senate Democrats have expressed interest in changes, too.

There are only so many minutes and so many hours. Time is just as valuable to Democrats as it is to Republicans.

Everyone on Capitol Hill knows that more long nights and overnight sessions await lawmakers in September and the fall as the Senate attempts to confirm additional nominees.

That’s to say nothing of avoiding a government shutdown in October.

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This is why Senate Republicans elected to stick around for a bit recently – and then call it a day. Or a month.

After all, there is only so much time available in August.

President Donald Trump will use the upcoming summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin to test how serious Putin is about ending the war with Ukraine, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said Sunday.

Rutte told ABC’s “This Week” that the meeting comes as Trump continues to put pressure on Putin, noting the recent secondary sanctions on countries like India, which purchased Russian oil, and delivering lethal weapons to Ukraine.

“Next Friday will be important because it will be about testing Putin, how serious he is on bringing this terrible war to an end,” Rutte said.

Trump announced the first in-person meeting with Putin since Moscow launched its deadly invasion of Ukraine in 2022 in a Truth Social post on Saturday. The leaders are expected to meet in Alaska on Friday, Aug. 15.

TRUMP, PUTIN WILL HOLD FIRST IN-PERSON MEETING SINCE UKRAINE INVASION

In recent weeks, Trump has refused to mince words when asked about Putin. Trump said during a Cabinet meeting July 8 he was fed up with Putin and said he was eyeing potentially imposing new sanctions on Russia. 

The NATO chief called the upcoming meeting “an important step” in the process of reaching full-scale peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, however, wasn’t expected to be at the summit with Trump and Putin as of Sunday. Despite Zelenskyy’s absence, Rutte said “we need Ukraine at the table.”

“It will be about territory,” Rutte said of the upcoming meeting. “It will, of course, be about security guarantees, but also about the absolute need to acknowledge that Ukraine decides on its own future, that Ukraine has to be a sovereign nation deciding on its geopolitical future, of course having no limitations to its own military troop levels, and for NATO to have no limitations on our presence on the eastern flank in countries like Latvia, Estonia and Finland.”

PUTIN ALLY WARNS ‘TITANIC EFFORTS’ ARE UNDERWAY TO SINK TRUMP SUMMIT OVER UKRAINE WAR

U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker told CNN on Sunday that no decision had been made at this point about whether Zelenskyy would be invited to the meeting.

“If [Trump] thinks that that is the best scenario to invite Zelenskyy, then he’ll do that,” Whitaker said, adding that “there’s time to make that decision.”

When asked about whether Putin can be trusted, Whitaker said that in any situation of competing national interests it will be actions, not words, that decide whether peace is achieved and preserved.

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“Words are cheap, but in this case, whether it’s the Russians or the Ukrainians, both sides are going to have to take the actions to have peace and to continue to honor that peace,” he said.

Fox News Digital’s Diana Stancy contributed to this report.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday thanked European leaders for backing his push to join this week’s U.S.–Russia summit, as Kyiv fears Washington and Moscow could strike a deal to end the war but in a way that undermines Ukraine’s sovereignty.

“The end of the war must be fair, and I am grateful to everyone who stands with Ukraine and our people today for the sake of peace in Ukraine, which is defending the vital security interests of our European nations,” Zelenskyy said.

PUTIN ALLY WARNS ‘TITANIC EFFORTS’ ARE UNDERWAY TO SINK TRUMP SUMMIT OVER UKRAINE WAR

The leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Finland and the European Commission said in a joint statement that any diplomatic solution brokered between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin must protect the security interests of Ukraine and Europe.

“The U.S. has the power to force Russia to negotiate seriously,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told Reuters on Sunday. “Any deal between the U.S. and Russia must have Ukraine and the EU included, for it is a matter of Ukraine’s and the whole of Europe’s security,” she added.

ZELENSKYY WON’T CEDE TERRITORY FOR PEACE DEAL AHEAD OF TRUMP‑PUTIN SUMMIT AS TRILATERAL MEETING TEASED

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the upcoming summit “will be about testing Putin” and will serve as a measure of how serious the Russian leader is about “bringing this terrible war to an end.”

Both the White House and the Kremlin have acknowledged Zelenskyy’s request to join the talks, though no formal invitation has been issued. Trump and Putin are scheduled to meet in Alaska on Aug. 15. If Zelenskyy were to take part, the meeting would mark the first between Putin and Zelenskyy since the start of Moscow’s war.

SANCTIONING RUSSIA ACT THREATENS MOSCOW, ALLIES WITH 500% TARIFFS

The meeting, which Trump announced in a Truth Social post on Friday, comes on the heels of Washington’s threats to impose steep tariffs on the Kremlin and its allies.

Trump has previously singled out countries like India and China—top buyers of discounted Russian crude — for undermining G7 price caps and weakening the impact of Western sanctions.

In response, bipartisan lawmakers introduced the Sanctioning Russia Act, which would impose a 500% tariff targeting the core of Russia’s economy — its oil and gas exports — if Moscow continues to resist peace efforts or escalates the conflict.

Meanwhile, a senior member of Putin’s inner circle warned that multiple countries are mounting “titanic efforts” to undermine the upcoming summit between the Russian leader and Trump.

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“Undoubtedly, a number of countries interested in continuing the conflict will make titanic efforts to disrupt the planned meeting between President Putin and President Trump,” wrote Russia’s investment envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, in a Telegram post on Saturday, referencing the Kremlin’s ongoing war in Ukraine.

While Dmitriev did not name specific countries, he warned that critics of the upcoming talks could seek to sabotage the summit through diplomatic maneuvers or disinformation through the media.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul – once lieutenant governor under Andrew Cuomo – said Sunday she has identified “areas of alignment” with democratic socialist New York City mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani. 

“Fox News Sunday” host Shannon Bream asked Hochul if she supported Mamdani, who is now running against Cuomo and others, after noting how the candidate praised her for hosting Texas Democratic lawmakers who fled the state to deter a GOP redistricting plan. 

“We still have many differences. I don’t know how you whitewash that away,” Hochul said. “He can agree with me, and many people agree with, and I think it’s not just Democrats who say New Yorkers stand up for our rights. We do that. It’s what we’re hardwired to do. We’re fighters. I’m a mom from Buffalo. I guess they’re not used to taking on a mom from Buffalo, perhaps.” 

CUOMO SUPPORTERS LOOK TO WEALTHY ENCLAVE TO TAKE DOWN MAMDANI: REPORT

“There’s many areas of disagreement, but also there’s areas of alignment, including affordability,” the governor added of Mamdani. “You know, his election touched a nerve. And people said, you know what, we’re just not getting ahead. And the Trump policies that were promised to lift people up, reduce costs, not touch Medicaid, make sure that tariffs create jobs, none of that happened. So there is this sense of we need some change now.” 

As governor, Hochul said she’s worked with two different mayors of New York City already, and she’ll continue to “work with whomever the voters want me to, and I’ll make it work.”

GOV. HOCHUL DODGES ON WHETHER SHE’LL ENDORSE ZOHRAN MAMDANI

“I will make it work out because I’m not going to go to war with the 8 million residents of New York that I also represent, so my job is to calm things down,” Hochul said. “Let’s see what the election results are, but people have to recognize that candidate for mayor has also touched a nerve and we need to be responsive to that. So I’m aligned with him that we need to start finding ways to make life more affordable for New Yorkers.”

Hochul assumed the role of governor after Cuomo stepped down amid multiple controversies and she was later elected to a full term. 

After a June Democratic mayoral primary loss to Mamdani, Cuomo joined incumbent New York City Mayor Eric Adams as another independent candidate running in the general election. 

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Adams and Cuomo have traded barbs about which of them should drop out before November to better the chances of a Mamdani defeat. 

A senior member of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle warned that multiple countries are mounting “titanic efforts” to undermine the upcoming summit between the Russian leader and U.S. President Donald Trump.

The two leaders are scheduled to meet in Alaska on Aug. 15, though Trump’s announcement, made via a Truth Social post on Friday, offered few additional details about the summit. It is also unclear if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be invited to join the talks as the Kremlin’s unprovoked war stretches into its fourth year. 

ZELENSKYY WON’T CEDE TERRITORY FOR PEACE DEAL AHEAD OF TRUMP‑PUTIN SUMMIT AS TRILATERAL MEETING TEASED

“Undoubtedly, a number of countries interested in continuing the conflict will make titanic efforts to disrupt the planned meeting between President Putin and President Trump,” wrote Russia’s investment envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, in a Telegram post on Saturday, referencing the Kremlin’s ongoing war in Ukraine.

While Dmitriev did not name specific countries, he warned that critics of the upcoming talks could seek to sabotage the summit through diplomatic maneuvers or media-driven provocations. Several NATO countries in Europe have been openly skeptical of any deal that rewards Russian aggression in the three-year-old war.

Dmitriev, who met with Trump administration officials in Washington in April, has been dubbed Putin’s “shadow foreign minister” for his behind-the-scenes role in shaping Russia’s global diplomacy.

 As head of the Kremlin’s sovereign wealth fund and a recently appointed special envoy, he has often acted as an informal bridge between Moscow and Washington.

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Meanwhile, the Kremlin said in a statement on Saturday that Trump and Putin are expected to “focus on discussing options for achieving a long-term peaceful resolution to the Ukrainian crisis.”

“This will evidently be a challenging process, but we will engage in it actively and energetically,” the statement added.

Trump has previously said that Putin and Zelenskyy were close to a ceasefire deal but suggested that Kyiv would have to concede significant territory, an outcome that Ukrainians and many European allies oppose. 

President Donald Trump vowed on Sunday to make Washington, D.C., “safer and more beautiful” as his administration doubles down on efforts to address crime and a growing homeless population in the nation’s capital. 

“The homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY. We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post, sharing several photos of tent encampments to underscore his message.

PRESIDENT TRUMP INCREASES FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT PRESENCE IN DC FOLLOWING VIOLENT CRIME SURGE

“The criminals, you don’t have to move out. We’re going to put you in jail where you belong,” he wrote, adding that the new crackdowns on both issues are “going to happen very fast.”

“There will be no “MR. NICE GUY.” We want our Capital BACK,” Trump wrote, adding that more details on these efforts will be laid out during a press conference on Monday.

Trump has repeatedly characterized Washington, D.C., as “one of the most dangerous cities anywhere in the world.” On Saturday, Trump said his administration will “essentially, stop violent crime” in the nation’s capital.

Last week, Trump said he was weighing a federal takeover of D.C.’s police force, including the potential deployment of the National Guard, to confront rising crime in the capital. 

The renewed focus follows a series of violent incidents in the city, some involving federal staffers, including a high-profile employee from the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) who was a victim of an attempted carjacking.

TRUMP THREATENS TO FEDERALIZE DC AFTER EX‑DOGE EMPLOYEE BEATEN

“We have a capital that’s very unsafe, you know, we just almost lost a young man, beautiful, handsome guy that got the hell knocked out of him,” Trump said, referencing former DOGE employee Edward Coristine.

The president described crime in D.C. as “out of control,” with young “thugs” and “gang members” who are “randomly attacking, mugging, maiming, and shooting innocent citizens.”

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White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said last week in a statement to Fox News that “President Trump has directed an increased presence of federal law enforcement to protect innocent citizens. Starting tonight, there will be no safe harbor for violent criminals in D.C.”

“Washington, D.C. is an amazing city, but it has been plagued by violent crime for far too long,” Leavitt added.