Trump, 79, Melts Down at Being Challenged to a Walk by Dem, 46

Katie Francis
Sun 24 August 2025 

DAILY BEAST


Donald Trump huffed and puffed online after Maryland Gov. Wes Moore challenged him to walk the streets of his state.

The 79-year-old president lashed out on Truth Social on Sunday at Moore’s “nasty and provocative” invitation three days earlier to join him for some light cardio in Baltimore, calling the city a “crime disaster” and threatening to deploy National Guard troops.

Photo Illustration by Victoria Sunday/The Daily Beast/Getty Images

“As President, I would much prefer that he clean up this Crime disaster before I go there for a ‘walk,’” Trump fumed. “Wes Moore’s record on Crime is a very bad one, unless he fudges his figures on crime like many of the other ‘Blue States’ are doing.”

“But if Wes Moore needs help, like Gavin Newscum did in L.A., I will send in the ‘troops,’ which is being done in nearby DC, and quickly clean up the Crime,” the president continued.

Trump was so angry about the public safety walk invitation that he suggested he may pull federal support for rebuilding the city’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed last year.

In a follow-up post, Trump accused Moore of lying about receiving the Bronze Star, although he was honored with one in 2024.

Trump attacked Wes Moore and his 'crime disaster' city after being invited to visit. / Donald Trump/Truth Social

The 46-year-old responded with a pointed jab at the president’s health.

“President Bone Spurs will do anything to get out of walking – even if that means spouting off more lies about the progress we’re making on public safety in Maryland," Moore wrote of the older man.

He added, “Hey Donald, we can get you a golf cart if that makes things easier. Just let my team know.”



The golf cart offer seemed targeted; back in 2017 during a G7 summit in Italy, The Times reported that while the other world leaders took a short walk together to reach the location of a photo op, Trump opted to wait for a golf cart and follow behind them.

The White House and Moore didn’t immediately respond to request for comment.

There has been rising concern about Trump’s wellbeing in recent weeks, beyond his confirmed struggles with chronic venous insufficiency.

Trump was seen struggling to walk in a straight line during his summit with Putin on Aug. 15, and referred to it being held in Russia when its actual location was Alaska.

While Trump hasn’t yet responded to Moore’s latest invitation, the governor used an appearance on CBS’ Face the Nation to ramp up his attacks against the White House and the GOP.

Not only did he describe the use of the National Guard in areas such as Los Angeles and Washington D.C. as “unconstitutional,” Moore confirmed that he was actively looking at redistricting in response to the gerrymandering wave that kicked off in Texas.

“When I say ‘all options are on the table,’ all options are on the table,” he said of his next move.

THIN SKINNED Trump Threatens to ‘Send in the Troops’ to Baltimore

Richard Hall
Sun 24 August 2025 
TIME


President Donald Trump speaks to law enforcement officers during a patrol through Washington, DC, Aug 21. Credit - Anna Moneymaker - Getty Images

President Donald Trump threatened to “send in the ‘troops’” to Baltimore in a lengthy social media post on Sunday directed at Maryland’s Democrat governor, Wes Moore.

The threat came in response to an invitation from Moore for the President to take part in a safety walk in Baltimore following Trump’s repeated comments about the city's problems with crime.

“As President, I would much prefer that he clean up this Crime disaster before I go there for a ‘walk,’” Trump wrote in a lengthy post on Truth Social.

“But if Wes Moore needs help, like Gavin Newscum did in L.A., I will send in the ‘troops,’ which is being done in nearby DC, and quickly clean up the Crime,” he added.

Moore responded soon after with his own jab at the president.

“President Bone Spurs will do anything to get out of walking – even if that means spouting off more lies about the progress we’re making on public safety in Maryland,” he wrote on X.

“Hey Donald, we can get you a golf cart if that makes things easier. Just let my team know,” he added.

Read more: Trump Says Chicago Is Next in His Crackdown on Crime. Here Are the Facts About Crime in the City

Trump's threat comes nearly two weeks after he deployed the National Guard and took federal control over the police force in Washington, D.C., as part of what his administration has claimed is a crackdown on crime.

In June, the President deployed the California National Guard and the Marines to Los Angeles, ostensibly to quell protests against his administration's immigration policies.

Trump's threat to deploy troops to Baltimore follows a series of similar threats aimed at Democratic-run cities across the country.

When announcing the federal takeover of Washington, D.C., Trump said: “This will go further.”

“We’re going to take back our capital … and then we’ll look at other cities also,” singling out Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Baltimore, and Oakland.

The President said Friday that Chicago was next on his list, telling reporters: “After we do this, we’ll go to another location and we’ll make it safe also.”

“Chicago is a mess. You have an incompetent mayor, grossly incompetent, and we’ll straighten that one out, probably next.”

Trump has begun to use the potential deployment of National Guard troops as a cudgel to hit back at his Democratic critics. His spat with Moore appears to have been sparked by the governor's criticism of his takeover of Washington, D.C.

In Moore's letter to Trump inviting him to Baltimore, he wrote that public safety was personally important to him because he “grew up in and around communities left behind by people in power, who sought to weaponize the pain of their constituents through hollow talking points that never changed the reality on the ground.”

“Homicides in Maryland are down statewide by 20% since my inauguration two and a half years ago. In the first six months of 2025, the Baltimore Police Department continued to see double-digit reductions in gun violence, including a 22% decrease in homicides and a 19% decrease in non-fatal shootings from the year before. We are currently on track to have the lowest number of homicides in Baltimore City since we began officially keeping crime statistics,” he added.

Trump responded in his post that “Wes Moore’s record on Crime is a very bad one, unless he fudges his figures on crime like many of the other 'Blue States' are doing,” without providing evidence for his claim


PETTY & PETULENT Trump slams Moore, says he might ‘have to rethink’ money given for Baltimore’s Key Bridge

Rachel Scully
Sun 24 August 2025

THE HILL 

President Trump criticized Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) on Sunday for asking the president to “come walk the streets with us,” saying he needs to “rethink” his decision to give money for the bridge that collapsed in Baltimore after being struck by a cargo ship.

Trump suggested last week that he could bring his takeover efforts to other Democratic-led cities, including Baltimore, which he called in his Truth Social post on Sunday morning “out of control” and “crime ridden.”

“Governor Wes Moore of Maryland has asked, in a rather nasty and provocative tone, that I ‘walk the streets of Maryland’ with him,” Trump wrote. “I assume he is talking about out of control, crime ridden, Baltimore? As President, I would much prefer that he clean up this Crime disaster before I go there for a ‘walk.'”
He also accused Moore of having a “very bad” record in his handling of crime in the state and offered to send troops to the state if he “needs help, like Gavin Newscum did in L.A.”

“After only one week, there is NO CRIME AND NO MURDER IN DC! When it is like that in Baltimore, I will proudly ‘walk the streets’ with the failing, because of Crime, Governor of Maryland,” he wrote.

“P.S. Baltimore is ranked the 4th WORST CITY IN THE NATION IN CRIME & MURDER,” he continued. “Stop talking and get to work, Wes. I’ll then see you on the streets!!!”

Trump’s fiery comments come after Moore invited the president to “come walk the streets with us” following Trump’s negative comments about Baltimore.

“I’d love for the president to take us up on our offer and actually come walk the streets with us,” Moore said on NewsNation’s “CUOMO.”

“If the president is going to make comments about Baltimore, then the president should actually make sure [they’re] informed comments, because the truth is, the comments that he is making from the Oval Office, the personal attacks that he’s made on me from the Oval Office, they are just inaccurate, they’re ignorant,” he added.

In his post, Trump also said he might need to “rethink” the funding he said he gave to Moore to fix the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed in March 2024.

“Also, I gave Wes Moore a lot of money to fix his demolished bridge. I will now have to rethink that decision???” he wrote.

In another post, Trump also asked whether Moore, an Army veteran who served in Afghanistan, lied about receiving a Bronze Star.

“Did Wes Moore, the Governor of Maryland, lie about getting a Bronze Star?” he wrote in another post.

In December, Moore received a Bronze Star for his military service in Afghanistan nearly two decades after he was deployed overseas following a New York Times report that Moore, in 2006, had written on an application that he received a Bronze Star for his service when, in fact, he never received it.

After the report, Moore said he made an “honest mistake,” but that his deputy brigade commander had recommended him for the Bronze Star — and told him to include the award on his application “after confirming with two other senior-level officers that they had also signed off on the commendation.”

Moore responded to Trump’s posts, calling him “President Bone Spurs.”

“President Bone Spurs will do anything to get out of walking — even if that means spouting off more lies about the progress we’re making on public safety in Maryland,” he wrote after Trump’s posts. “Hey Donald, we can get you a golf cart if that makes things easier. Just let my team know.”

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved.

Trump threatens to cut off Key bridge repair money after Maryland governor tells him to keep National Guard out of Baltimore

John Bowden
Sun 24 August 2025

THE INDEPENDENT


Trump threatens to cut off Key bridge repair money after Maryland governor tells him to keep National Guard out of Baltimore

Donald Trump deepened his feud with Maryland’s Democratic governor on Sunday and threatened to cancel funding for the reconstruction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which was destroyed by a ship strike last year.

The Republican president made no attempt to offer a reason for his threat other than his own political differences with Wes Moore, Maryland’s governor and the only Black leader of a U.S. state.

Instead, the president made clear in a Truth Social post that disaster relief funding would be wielded as a political weapon against any state or local leaders who dared challenge him.

“I gave Wes Moore a lot of money to fix his demolished bridge,” Trump said on Sunday, which isn’t true. He wasn’t president in 2024, when full federal funding for the project was allocated during government funding negotiations.

He continued: “I will now have to rethink that decision???”

The post came in response to Moore’s invitation to the president to walk the city of Baltimore.

Moore attempted to extend an olive branch to the president with his invitation last week, which came amid Trump’s threats to extend his federal takeover of Washington, D.C. to other cities with Democratic leadership and large Black populations

“Donald Trump, if you are not willing to walk our communities, keep our name out of your mouth,” Moore said last week.

But Trump wasn’t having it.

In a lengthy Truth Social post on Sunday, he claimed the governor’s record on “crime” is “a very bad one, unless he fudges his figures on crime like many of the other ‘Blue States’ are doing.”

More in Politics   Trump, 79, Melts Down at Being Challenged to a Walk by Dem, 46

He said he would send in “troops” like he did in Los Angeles to “quickly clean up the Crime.”

“When it is like that in Baltimore, I will proudly ‘walk the streets’ with the failing, because of Crime, Governor of Maryland,” he wrote.

The White House announced earlier in August that it was federalizing Washington, D.C.’s police force and deploying the National Guard and agents from multiple federal law enforcement agencies on the streets of the nation’s capital. The purpose was ostensibly to combat a crime wave, though the administration’s explanation has shifted between fighting crime and beautification measures. After a few days, control of the police was returned to city leaders.

National Guard troops remain across D.C., however, and federal agents continue to patrol city streets. The president said on Friday that he was looking to expand his efforts to other cities led by Democrats, though legal restrictions over the deployment of the Guard will likely hinder that plan.

Moore, like other Democratic governors, has said that he will refuse to authorize the deployment of Maryland’s National Guard troops for crimefighting efforts in Baltimore.

But Sunday’s post from the president is an indication he could attempt to use Department of Transportation and FEMA disaster relief funding as a means of enticing Democratic governors to do his bidding.

“It's interesting the president seems to be more concerned about my future than he is about the future of the American people, and that's why I'm asking him to keep his focus,” Moore told CBS Face the Nation when asked about Trump’s remarks about the governor’s possible presidential ambitions.

“Focus on the things that actually matter right now, which is the fact that his economic policies are driving up prices on everything from electronics, to the clothes that we wear, to the food that we eat,” Moore said. “Talk about the fact that he has immigration policies that are knocking out tens of thousands of jobs in the state of Maryland. Talk about the fact that you are about to kick veterans and seniors off of health care. Don't worry about my future. Worry about theirs.”

After his appearance on the show on Sunday, Moore fired back at Trump’s

“President Bone Spurs will do anything to get out of walking — even if that means spouting off more lies about the progress we’re making on public safety in Maryland,” Moore wrote, referencing the president’s medical deferment that exempted him from being drafted into military service during the Vietnam War.

“Hey Donald, we can get you a golf cart if that makes things easier,” Moore wrote. “Just let my team know.”

A cargo ship, now removed, pictured under the remains of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after causing its destruction in 2024 (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

The Francis Scott Key Bridge, named after the poet who penned “The Star-Spangled Banner,” was a Baltimore landmark for decades. Its destruction in 2024, the result of a cargo ship losing power and steering into a support column, also caused the deaths of a work crew who were performing maintenance on the bridge in the late evening hours when the incident took place.

The closure of that stretch of Maryland’s I-695 beltway continues to disrupt transit around Baltimore and had immediate and significant effects on the state economy. The destruction shuttered the Port of Baltimore for 11 weeks, at a staggering economic impact estimated around $15 million per day.

In a separate post on Truth Social the president questioned whether Moore, who served in the Army, lied about being awarded a Bronze Star.

Moore was awarded a Bronze Star last year for meritorious service; Army officials acknowledged that the mixup was a result of paperwork not being properly processed, not deception on Moore’s part.

ROFLMAO

MAGA Mainstay Nancy Mace Cancels Speech After Just Eight People Show Up

OTHER GOP REP'S ARE BEING BOOED BY HUNDREDS

Emell Derra Adolphus
Sat 23 August 2025

DAILY BEAST


Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

GOP Rep. Nancy Mace—who is currently running as a South Carolina gubernatorial candidate—was reportedly forced to cancel a Thursday speech after nearly no one bothered to show up.

Mace was set to address a local chapter of the far-right organization Moms for Liberty, but changed course after only eight people showed up, My Horry News reported. Mace reportedly slunk away backstage to avoid addressing the situation directly, before pivoting to speaking with those in attendance individually—and taking some questions from the media, of course.

Event organizers had reportedly hoped 100 people would show.

Nancy Mace canceled her speech, but spoke to each audience member individually before addressing the media. / Reuters

South Carolinians will head to the polls to vote for their new governor on Nov. 3. Incumbent Gov. Henry McMaster, a Republican, is not running due to term limits.

Mace, who announced her gubernatorial bid earlier this month, is one of five Republicans currently vying for the state’s top job.

In announcing her run on Aug. 4, Mace embraced her firebrand reputation when she declared: “I didn’t come to join the club. They don’t want me, and I don’t want them.”

“I came to hold the line,” Mace continued. “They said stay quiet; I spoke up. They said sit down; I stood up. They said play nice, and I fought back.”

Nancy Mace has described herself as “Trump in heels,” an image that is memorable for all the wrong reasons. / Reuters

Mace has attempted to clamp onto President Donald Trump’s coattails, stoking MAGA mayhem by attacking Democratic-led bills, policies and positions—describing herself as “Trump in heels” as she publicly pleaded for his support in her race for governor, ABC News reported.

Mace told press at her flop event that her campaign is “winning by double digits everywhere, but particularly with folks who support the president.”

But her political ploys have often left her with egg on her face.

A visibly angry Mace lost her cool with a reporter two weeks ago when she was fact-checked during a town hall at Veterans Café and Grill in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. After Mace claimed credit for the state’s infrastructure upgrades tied to the Inflation Reduction Act, the reporter called Mace out for voting against it, leading to fireworks.

“You’re very confused,” Mace said, outraged, before going on the attack. “You’re a raging Democrat… a raging leftist with that kind of questioning. And I would say, as a woman, like, you might wanna think about how you view other women.”

In another painfully awkward public moment, Mace claimed that she likes to unwind by watching ICE deportation raids—a comment that was ripped across X as a crude attempt to position herself as head ICE Barbie over Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.

'How irresponsible': Nancy Mace torched for sharing hoax about college shooter

Robert Davis
August 24, 2025 

RAW STORY

U.S. Rep Nancy Mace (R-SC) attends a House of Representatives Oversight Committee hearing on the U.S. Secret Service and the security lapses that allowed an attempted assassination of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., July 22, 2024. REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt/File Photo

A MAGA representative received sharp criticism on Sunday evening after she shared unconfirmed rumors about an active shooter on the University of South Carolina campus.

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), who is running for South Carolina governor, amplified claims on X that there was an active shooter at the USC library. She also shared a since-deleted photo of the shooter and a few identifying characteristics. The person Mace accused of being the shooter was later discovered to be carrying an umbrella, not a gun, on campus.

"Please be safe and we are praying for safety for our students and the safety of law enforcement as they take swift action to apprehend this individual," Mace wrote from her official X account.

Later in the evening, she posted that the event was "confusing" for all involved. She also posted a thank you note to local law enforcement who responded to the school.

"Real, or a hoax, or a mistake, now would be an appropriate time to talk about hardened security at schools of all grades, colleges and universities," Mace wrote. "This was a terrifying experience for students on campus and their families."

Several people responded to Mace's claims on social media.

"South Carolina police say there is no shooter on the campus of USC," Travis Akers, a retired Navy intelligence officer who lives in South Carolina, wrote on X. "The image shared by @NancyMace was obtained from X, and was of a student carrying an umbrella. The image was not released by law enforcement or an official authority, and could have resulted in him being killed."

"She deleted it but my God how irresponsible can Nancy Mace be?" Tyler Jones, CEO of Charleston Edge Collective, posted on X.

"@NancyMace posted videos of this kid casually walking through campus with his umbrella saying he was a shooter at the University of South Carolina during their active shooter scare earlier that turned out to be a false alarm….kid should sue her a--!" Wu-Tang is for the Children posted on X.

"Now would be an appropriate time to talk about how to appropriately punish you for this false post that could have gotten someone killed," Fred Guttenberg, who's daughter was killed in the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, posted on X. "As the father of Jaime, killed in the Parkland shooting, everything about you and your messaging is the problem. Seek help as I firmly believe you are in need."

See the post by clicking here.

AMERIKA

Opinion: Yes, It IS a Police State. And Yes, You Can Do Something

David Rothkopf
Sat 23 August 2025 

Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty

Did you ever wonder what it would be like to live in a police state?

Well, you can check that box off your bucket list.

We’re there.

This week demonstrates that dire truth to a degree predicted by few if any of those who warned of what Trump would do should he return to office. I know. Last summer, I participated in a series of scenario exercises about what a second Trump Administration would look like. It was a process involving a broad range of former senior U.S. government officials and experts.

President Donald Trump speaks to the media wearing a hat that reads,

While the general thrust of Trump’s authoritarian power grab was predicted, the scope of what Trump has actually done was not anticipated nor was the lack of resistance to his actions. Indeed, many of those present, some quite well known, pooh-poohed the idea Trump would go so far

I truly hope they are tortured with regret. Because it is underestimating the inherent malevolence of Trump on his revenge tour that has gotten us to where we are today.

This past week has contained so many examples of steps the Trump Administration has taken to transform our government into a weapon designed to serve their grievances, hatreds and fears that it is hard for the casual observer to track them all. Indeed, after seven months, it is clear that approach is a central part of the regime’s strategy. Relentless infringements on rights, attacks on the law, restructuring of the government to attack rather than serve the people are perpetrated daily.

Gretchen Smith Bolton, wife of the former White House national security adviser John Bolton, stands in front of Bolton's house as it was searched by FBI members on Friday. / Tasos Katopodis/Reuters

Think back to the past few days.

We have seen the MAGA occupation of Washington, D.C. expand. Red states have surged national guard troops into the nation’s capital. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has ordered that many of those troops be armed. J.D. Vance and Stephen Miller held a press event at Union Station celebrating the invasion of the city as a bold step to fight crime—even though crime rates in the city have fallen. Donald Trump went on a ride along himself and then promised Chicago would be next on the list of blue cities that would face an illegal red invasion.

Former National Security Advisor John Bolton saw his home and office raided by the FBI. The administration of the president who kept classified documents stored in a bathroom at Mar-a-Lago asserted that it was because Bolton may have mishandled secret materials himself. But everyone knew better. Bolton was a critic of Trump, being targeted just like so many others—from James Comey to John Brennan to Miles Taylor to Olivia Troye—have been harassed and targeted.

Dozens of former senior officials have seen their security clearances stripped away, more this week at the behest of Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. / Andrew Harnik / Getty Images

Indeed, all critics of Trump are targets. The head of the Defense Intelligence Agency was fired by Secretary of Defense Hegseth this week. His apparent crime? Overseeing an agency that let the truth be known about the failure of Trump’s vaunted bombing mission against Iran to achieve the results of which Trump had prematurely boasted.


In New York, attorney general Letitia James has been harassed by Ed Martin, the Department of Justice official whose job it is to pervert the mechanisms of our legal system, to torment those who have stood up to Trump and told the truth about him. The degree to which DoJ has been retooled into a Department of Retribution is clear on many levels. While the blame for this lies heavily with the Supreme Court which cleared the way for this in a devastatingly misguided ruling last year, look to the hostility to the principles on which our legal system was built of those now in charge of it.

Trump claimed this week that he was the nation’s chief law enforcement officer. Attorney General Pam Bondi did not challenge this despite the fact that she by statute holds that distinction. Meanwhile, conspiracy theorist turned FBI Director Kash Patel announced that his agency would redirect its focus away from many of the complex cases it once addressed so it could support a more Trumpian agenda. In that vein, it was also announced that the requirements for joining the FBI would be relaxed. The move mimicked a similar initiative by ICE.

President Trump with Pam Bondi (third from right) and Kash Patel (second from right), at the August 11 press conference where he announced his DC takeover. / Andrew Harnik / Getty Images

Why lower standards? Given the directions of the agencies involved it can only be concluded that these are DEI programs for the kind of white supremacist, right-wing extremist thugs that are needed to fulfill Trump’s vision of a national police force serving as his muscle, to enforce his will.

Once upon a time in Germany, the police forces of Prussia were put under unified leadership loyal to the new ruling party’s leader and instructed to go after his political enemies, as well as those from ethnic groups deemed undesirable. The new organization was called the Geheime Staatspolizei, a name that was shortened to Gestapo.

No one can watch the masked thugs that patrol American streets today, men who refuse to identify themselves or their organizations, who regularly violate the legal rights of those they are victimizing, who send people without due process to modern day concentration camps and hellhole prisons around the world and not be reminded of Hitler’s enforcers or Stalin’s or those in any other dictatorship. Their contempt for judges, the judiciary and the rule of law—heard again this week from Trump and Bondi—only underscores the fact that we now live in a country in which the rule of one man, one mob, is pushing aside any semblance of the judicial values that once at least ostensibly guided this country.

The average observer might have been distracted by such actions by other events of the week just past—the decision by the state of Texas to try to rig future elections, the announcement that the administration would try to rewrite American history as it is presented in our national museums, the announcement of the review of the legal status of the 55 million people who hold visas in our country.

Demonstrators rally against President Donald Trump on April 19, 2025, in Cocoa, Florida. / Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo / Getty Images

But rather than be boggled by it all, it is important that people see the connections between each and every one of these actions—all clearly part of an authoritarian agenda that is gaining momentum and impact daily.

The assaults on our system, values and citizens have become so incessant that it has become impossible to rationalize them all, for the media to normalize what is going on, or for the Democratic Party establishment to just write strongly-worded letters about each instance of the demolition of our democracy.

Which raises the question, what is to be done? Can anything be done? In the short term, the answer must be to use what tools remain to fight back—even at the risk of becoming the targets of the next wave of retribution. Use the courts. Speak out. Take to the streets. Record the actions of the administration’s thugs and share the videos of what is happening. Work hard to try to maintain enough of democracy to regain some control of some aspects of our government as soon as possible.

And when that control is achieved, do not make the mistake of the last administration, of pundits or experts who took this threat too lightly. There must be consequences. Those who seized and warped and debased our system must pay a price for it. The illegality of their actions must be met with real penalties or they will take it as acceptance of such tactics and the American experiment in democracy will be permanently over.

Isn’t that just another form of retribution, you might ask? But the answer is no. There is another word for it if we do what is right in a way that is consistent with our laws and our true national interests. And that is justice.

Trump ‘manufactured crisis’ to justify plan to send national guard to Chicago, leading Democrat says

Richard Luscombe
Sun 24 August 2025 
THE GUARDIAN

Members of the national guard walk near the White House in Washington DC on 21 August.Photograph: Al Drago/Reuters

Planning is underway to send national guard troops to Chicago, an official at the Pentagon confirmed to ABC News on Sunday.

“We won’t speculate on further operations. The Department is a planning organization and is continuously working with other agency partners on plans to protect federal assets and personnel,” a Department of Defense official said, according to ABC.

Earlier on Sunday, Hakeem Jeffries, House minority leader and New York Democratic congressman, said Donald Trump has “manufactured a crisis” to justify sending federalized national guard troops into Chicago next, over the heads of local leaders.

Jeffries, appearing on CNN’s State of the Union, accused the US president of “playing games with the lives of Americans” with his unprecedented domestic deployment of the military, which has escalated to include the arming of troops currently patrolling Washington, DC – after sending troops into Los Angeles in June.

The mayor of Chicago, Brandon Johnson, said any such plan from Trump was perpetrating “the most flagrant violation of our constitution in the 21st century”.

Late on Friday, Pentagon officials confirmed to Fox News that up to 1,700 men and women of the national guard were poised to mobilize in 19 mostly Republican states to support Trump’s anti-immigration crackdown by assisting the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (Ice) with “logistical support and clerical functions”.

Related: Trump targets Chicago and New York as Hegseth orders weapons for DC troops

Jeffries said he supported a statement issued by the Democratic governor of Illinois, JB Pritzker, that Trump was “abusing his power” in talking about sending the national guard to Chicago, and distracting from the pain he said the president was causing American families.

The national guard is normally under the authority of the individual states, deployed at the request of the state governor and only federalized – or deployed by the federal government – in a national emergency and at the request of a governor.

Jeffries said in an interview with CNN on Sunday morning: “We should continue to support local law enforcement and not simply allow Donald Trump to play games with the lives of the American people as part of his effort to manufacture a crisis and create a distraction because he’s deeply unpopular.”

He continued: “I strongly support the statement that was issued by Governor Pritzker making clear that there’s no basis, no authority for Donald Trump to potentially try to drop federal troops into the city of Chicago.”

The White House has been working on plans to send national guard to Chicago, the third largest US city, dominated by Democratic voters in a Democratic state, to take a hard line on crime, homelessness and immigrants, the Washington Post reported.

Pritzker issued a statement on Saturday night that began: “The State of Illinois at this time has received no requests or outreach from the federal government asking if we need assistance, and we have made no requests for federal intervention.”

Trump has argued that a military crackdown was necessary in the nation’s capital, and elsewhere, to quell what he said were out of control levels of crime, even though statistics show that serious and violent crime in Washington, and many other American cities, has actually plummeted.

Talking to reporters in the Oval Office on Friday the president insisted that “the people in Chicago are screaming for us to come” as he laid out his plan to send troops there, and that they would later “help with New York”.

“When ready, we will start in Chicago … Chicago is a mess,” Trump said.

Johnson, in an appearance on Sunday on MSNBC, said shootings had dropped by almost 40% in his city in the last year alone, and he and Pritzker said any plan by the White House to override local authority and deploy troops would be illegal.

“The president has repeated this petulant presentation since he assumed office. What he is proposing at this point would be the most flagrant violation of our constitution in the 21st century,” Johnson said.

California sued the federal government when it deployed national guard and US marines to parts of Los Angeles in June over protests against Ice raids, but a court refused to block the troops.

Main target cities mentioned by Trump are not only majority Democratic in their voting but also run by Black mayors, including Washington, DC, Chicago, New York, Baltimore, Los Angeles and Oakland.

Related: Trump visits DC police station and boasts of success of crime crackdown

Rahm Emanuel, a Democratic former Illinois congressman, chief of staff to former president Barack Obama, and a former mayor of Chicago, also appeared on CNN on Sunday urging people to reflect that Trump, in two terms of office, had only ever deployed US troops in American cities, never overseas.

Emanuel said if he was still mayor he would call on the president to act like a partner and, although crime was coming down, to “work with us on public safety” to combat carjackings, gun crime and gangs and not “come in and act like we can be an occupied city”.

He added about Trump’s agenda: “He gave his speech in Iowa, he said ‘I hate’ Democrats, and this may be a reflection of that.” The speech was in July, when Trump excoriated Democrats in Congress who refused to vote for his One Big Beautiful Bill, the flagship legislation of the second Trump administration so far that focuses on tax cuts for the wealthy, massive boosts for the anti-immigration agenda and benefits cuts to programs such as Medicaid, which provides health insurance for poor Americans.

Trump draws up plans to deploy National Guard in Chicago

Benedict Smith
Sun 24 August 2025

THE TELEGRAPH

Members of the Ohio National Guard patrolled 14th Street in Washington, DC, on Saturday - Valerie Plesch


Donald Trump may send thousands of National Guard troops to Chicago within weeks as he extends his control of Democrat-run cities.

The Pentagon has drawn up plans to deploy troops to the third-largest city in the US as early as September, although this has not yet been signed off by the president, The Washington Post reported.

Earlier this month, Mr Trump mobilised the National Guard in Washington DC and became the first president in history to take federal control of its police force, claiming the capital was being taken over by “bloodthirsty” gangs.

Officials said a military deployment in Chicago had been planned for a long time, and was likely to go ahead in conjunction with immigration agents as part of the administration’s mass deportation programme.

On Friday, Mr Trump suggested he would turn his attention to Chicago after Washington, bypassing the concerns of local officials including JB Pritzker, the Democrat governor of Illinois, who characterised the move as a power grab.

“Chicago’s a mess. You have an incompetent mayor. Grossly incompetent,” said the president, who has repeatedly feuded with Brandon Johnson, the city’s Left-wing leader. “And we’ll straighten that one out, probably next. That’ll be our next one after this. And it won’t even be tough.”

Residents of Washington DC marched through the US capital’s streets on Saturday night to protest against Donald Trump sending in troops and taking control of its police force 

- Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

On Friday, Mr Pritzker accused Mr Trump of using Washington and Los Angeles as “a testing ground for his authoritarian power-grab”.

Mr Pritzker, who is thought to be considering a run for president in 2028, said: “Trump is now openly flirting with the idea of taking over other states and cities. Trump’s goal is to incite fear in our communities and destabilise existing public safety efforts – all to create a justification to further abuse his power.”

Mr Trump has previously suggested he could extend federal control to other Democrat-run cities, including New York, Baltimore, Los Angeles and Oakland.

He deployed National Guard troops to Los Angeles in June after violent clashes between immigration agents and protesters, prompting a legal battle with Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, which is still making its way through the courts.

“We won’t speculate on further operations,” a defence official told The Telegraph. “The department is a planning organisation and is continuously working with other agency partners on plans to protect federal assets and personnel.”

Credit: DVIDS/Reuters

Mr Trump’s control of the DC police department, currently commanded by Pam Bondi, the attorney general, is technically limited to 30 days under legislation.

But on Friday, Andy Biggs, a Republican congressman for Arizona, introduced legislation to extend this limit to six months. Other Republicans have sponsored resolutions that would allow Mr Trump to maintain control of the police until the end of his term in early 2029.

On Sunday, the president lashed out at Wes Moore, the governor of Maryland, after the Democrat invited him to the state to showcase its progress on reducing violent crime.

“There is no higher priority for me, as governor of my state, than the safety of my people,” Mr Moore wrote in a letter to Mr Trump on Thursday.

In a post on his Truth Social platform three days later, Mr Trump labelled the invitation “rather nasty and provocative”, and noted that Baltimore was ranked fourth among US cities for violent crime. “If Wes Moore needs help … I will send in the ‘troops’, which is being done in nearby DC, and quickly clean up the crime,” he wrote.

The president also suggested he could remove federal funding to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, which was demolished when a container ship crashed into it in March last year, killing six people.

It is unlikely Mr Trump could do so unilaterally, however, because Congress voted by a wide margin to cover the costs of the repairs in full in December.

Trump vs gender care: President and his team ratchet up attacks as more young people identify as transgender

Kelly Rissman
Sun 24 August 2025 

THE INDEPENDENT

The Trump administration has ramped up its attacks on gender-affirming care as young people are identifying as transgender at a higher rate than their older counterparts.

Transgender Americans have been made a target of President Donald Trump’s second presidency since his first day in office, when he issued an executive order declaring the United States only recognizes two sexes: male and female. Since returning to the White House, the president has made more than 300 attacks against LGBTQ+ people, according to advocacy group GLAAD.

This week alone demonstrates the fervor with which the Trump administration has taken aim at transgender Americans across the country.

The Air Force ordered that military boards “must recommend separation” for transgender service members, circumventing the typical board review process that includes a “fair and impartial hearing.” A Yosemite National Park ranger who hung a trans pride flag at Yosemite’s El Capitan was terminated. MAGA world erupted when two students were suspended from a Virginia high school after a Title IX investigation found they sexually harassed a transgender student.

The Trump administration’s attacks against gender-affirming care, in particular, have ramped up this week amid a new analysis showing that 2.8 million Americans aged 13 and older identify as transgender.

Of that group, more than three-quarters are under 35 years old and one-quarter are between 13 and 17, suggesting more young people are likely to identify as transgender compared to their older counterparts, the Williams Institute, a UCLA Law think tank, found in an analysis released Wednesday.

“LGBTQ people, especially transgender youth, are more comfortable being themselves than ever before,” a GLAAD spokesperson told The Independent in an email. “No president or administration will ever censor us away.”

The Independent has reached out to the White House for comment.

The report relied on data from a CDC survey. In an apparent remark on the political climate, the authors noted that they’re unclear about what data sources will be available in the future and said it’s “also unclear whether individuals’ willingness to disclose on surveys that they identify as transgender will remain unchanged in the years to come.”

In a direct onslaught on transgender youth, the Justice Department issued a subpoena to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia demanding records related to minors’ gender-affirming care, filings made public this week reveal.

Attorney General Pam Bondi announced in July that the Justice Department had issued 20 subpoenas to doctors and clinics involved in providing gender-affirming care to minors (AP)

Last month, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the DOJ had issued subpoenas to more than 20 doctors and clinics involved in providing gender-affirming care to minors. “Medical professionals and organizations that mutilated children in the service of a warped ideology will be held accountable by this Department of Justice,” Bondi said in a statement in July.

The subpoena asks the hospital to produce documents that identify which patients were prescribed puberty blockers or hormone therapy, records related to diagnoses that formed the basis for prescribing these treatments, and documents related to informed consent and parental authorization. The DOJ wants documents dating back to January 2020, when no state had banned gender-affirming care. Now, 27 states have placed limits on such care, according to KFF.

“The subpoena is a breathtakingly invasive government overreach,” Jennifer L. Levi, senior director of transgender and queer rights at legal advocacy group GLAD Law, told the Washington Post. “It’s specifically and strategically designed to intimidate health care providers and health care institutions into abandoning their patients.”

The GLAAD spokesperson suggested that the Justice Department instead “apply itself to exacting justice for the creeps in the Epstein files if they truly cared about keeping young people safe. Their energy is misdirected and intentional, and every American knows it.”

The Trump administration has been using different methods for months to try to seek such information.

A month before Bondi announced the subpoenas, the FBI urged the public to call in tips about any hospitals, clinics or providers performing gender affirming care.

President Donald Trump’s administration has ramped up its attacks against gender-affirming care (Middle East Images)

In May, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services sent letters to hospitals asking for information about their policies and information related to gender-affirming care treatments. “Hospitals accepting federal funds are expected to meet rigorous quality standards and uphold the highest level of stewardship when it comes to public resources,” Dr. Mehmet Oz, CMS administrator, said.

The administration’s laser focus on the trans community — who make up just 1 percent of the population aged 13 and older, according to the analysis — extends far beyond collecting hospital data into policies.

Last Friday, the Office of Personnel Management issued a memo stating “chemical and surgical modification of an individual's sex traits through medical interventions (to include ‘gender transition’ services)” will no longer be covered under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program in 2026.

The document notes that “counseling services for possible or diagnosed gender dysphoria must still be covered.”

Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, a lawyer and health care strategist at Lambda Legal, slammed the policy as “illegal.”

“This discriminatory policy denying medical care to government employees and their dependents is not only cruel—it is illegal,” he said in a statement. “The federal government cannot simply strip away essential healthcare coverage from transgender employees while providing comprehensive medical care to all other federal workers.”

This policy will also likely impact dependents of federal employees who may need access to such care.

The analysis revealed young people are more likely to identify as trans than adults. Among those aged 13 to 17 in the U.S., 3.3 percent identify as transgender, the analysis found; by contrast, of all U.S. adults, just 0.8 percent identify as transgender.

A new analysis showed that more young people are identifying as transgender compared to their older counterparts in the U.S. (Williams Institute)

On Thursday, the Trump administration unveiled its latest attack on trans minors by terminating the California State Personal Responsibility Education Program, a federal grant aiming to educate young people on both abstinence and contraception. The grant was worth $12 million, Reuters reported.

“California’s refusal to comply with federal law and remove egregious gender ideology from federally funded sex-ed materials is unacceptable,” Andrew Gradison, the acting assistant secretary at the Administration for Children and Families, said in a statement. “The Trump Administration will not allow taxpayer dollars to be used to indoctrinate children. Accountability is coming for every state that uses federal funds to teach children delusional gender ideology.”

Defunding the grant marks the latest salvo in the administration’s battle with California over transgender rights. Last month, the Trump administration sued California’s department of education over its policy to allow transgender athletes to compete in girls’ sports.

The Independent has reached out to the state’s department of education for comment.

“If it’s a day ending in y, President Trump is attacking kids’ safety, health, and access to education as part of his culture war,” a spokesperson from California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office told The Independent in a statement.

‘Weaponization of a sandwich’ — Subway’s footlong is becoming an icon of resistance against Trump’s D.C. police takeover

Nino Paoli
Sun 24 August 2025

Banksy-style ‘Sandwich Guy’ posters show a protester tossing a sandwich, harkening back to last week’s viral Subway footlong incident involving a federal officer. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Subway has been involuntarily tossed into the debate surrounding President Donald Trump’s takeover of D.C. police, after a resident threw a footlong at a federal officer last week. Now images and merch of sandwiches have become resistance symbols. Experts tell Fortune the unlikely string of events is a case study in brand image management and crisis communication.

Subway was thrown—literally—into the spotlight after a D.C. resident and then-Justice Department employee hurled one of the sandwich chain’s footlongs at a federal officer, which became a viral moment this past week. Now, Subway may have to deal with something that’s grown beyond a single hoagie toss.

Sean Charles Dunn, the now internet-famous protestor known better as “Sandwich Guy,” was captured on video hucking a sandwich wrapped in green and yellow paper at the officer, after calling a group of agents standing outside Subway “fascists.” The video was uploaded to Instagram on Aug. 10 and has since gone viral, with major news outlets reporting on the incident and eliciting responses from the Trump administration.

U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said in a video posted on X last Wednesday that Dunn would be charged with assault on a police officer, a felony that is punishable by up to eight years in prison. The following day, Attorney General Pam Bondi said in an X post that Dunn had been fired from his job at the DOJ.

“Stick your Subway sandwich somewhere else,” Pirro said in the video that has now racked up over 2 million views.

Well, Dunn hasn’t, but D.C. residents have, painting the nation’s capital with Banksy-styled portraits of Sandwich Guy, his right hand winding up, armed with a green, yellow and red footlong. The single act of protest has blossomed into a symbol of resistance against President Donald Trump’s federal law enforcement takeover. T-shirts depicting footlongs have hit Etsy, and some protestors are even bringing wrapped Subway sandwiches to demonstrations outside the White House.

But what happens when a large brand gets tied up in a national debate?

Other well-known brands have been monitored and discussed closely by the public for cultural and political implications.

In July, American Eagle came under fire for its “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans” denim ad campaign that featured the actress saying, “Genes are passed down from parents to offspring… My jeans are blue.”


This month, Cracker Barrel’s logo refresh drew online criticism from restaurant patrons accusing the brand of straying from its roots and going “woke.”

Experts told Fortune that Subway’s position is unique in that it didn’t incite any of the debate it’s embroiled in now. Unlike an ad campaign, policy change or public support of a marginalized community or cause, Subway hasn’t sparked a brand conversation of their own doing. Instead, experts said the unlikely string of events is a case study in brand image management due to external forces and crisis communication.

“Subway didn’t choose to be in this situation,” Stacy Rosenberg, professor of marketing at Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business, told Fortune. Yet, “they do need to issue a crisis communication statement to take some level of control of the message.”

Although Subway was thrown into the D.C. police takeover debate involuntarily, she said companies have to prepare for the unexpected to be able to respond in a timely manner.

Subway hasn’t publicly responded to the incident yet, and didn’t respond to Fortune for comment.


Since Aug. 10, Subway has posted routine promotional material on TikTok, X and Instagram. Some of their followers have taken to the comments section to further the conversation about the D.C. incident. Under an Aug. 13 picture of a 6-inch, one Instagram commenter replied, “I’m just excited to throw them at fascists.” X users have responded to an Aug. 12 Subway rewards post with a picture of Dunn being arrested, calling for him to be the sandwich chain’s new spokesperson.

“I think (Subway) is waiting it out, probably hoping not to have to” comment, Melissa Murphy, another marketing professor at Carnegie Mellon, told Fortune.

As social media allows for individual videos to become flashpoints and viral symbols, messaging can slip away from brands quickly. It’s Subway’s responsibility to provide a response, she said.

Murphy said that one of the exercises she does with marketing students is to brainstorm “every possible thing that could go wrong,” rank them by likelihood, and draft up the beginnings of public statements for the ones with the greatest chance to happen.

Though a Subway sandwich throwing “may not have been on the bingo card,” it falls under a political issue affecting a brand, which is something companies have to keep in mind, she said.


“If a brand isn’t prepared for that, I mean, it’s sort of shame on them,” Murphy said.

But, others don’t think Subway needs to do anything right now.

“There is a time to respond,” crisis communications expert Cindyee Harrison, CEO of Synaptic, a PR agency for small businesses, told Fortune. “I’m not entirely sure that that moment has arrived or will arrive for Subway.”

Harrison said the brand of the sandwich thrown at the federal officer has taken a backseat in people’s minds.

“It is the irony of the weaponization of a sandwich,” she said. “I think that’s the point more. So it really could have been any sandwich. It happens to be from Subway.”

The sandwich becoming an iconic symbol was an organic crowd response to a viral moment, something common in today’s media and likely to pass quickly, Harrison said.

If Subway potentially looks to capitalize on this heightened brand conversation online, it could come off as disingenuous, she added.

Though Murphy said she’s surprised Subway hasn’t issued an official statement on the matter, she understands the sub chain doesn’t want to alienate any of their customer base.

“I think it forces their hand a little bit to have an opinion,” Murphy said. “And that’s dangerous.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com