Trump tries to expand federalization of D.C.
On Thursday, Attorney General Pam Bondi attempted to appoint an acting police chief for the DC Metropolitan Police in order to end D.C.’s immigration sanctuary policies. See CNN, Bondi orders DC to end sanctuary city policies and appoints DEA chief as emergency police commissioner.
D.C. leaders have rejected the attempted takeover of the Metropolitan Police and may file suit. See Chris Geidner, Law Dork, Breaking: D.C. officials balk at Bondi's order claiming powers over D.C. police.
The presence of FBI, DEA, and ICE agents along with National Guard troops is creating rising hostility among DC residents toward those federal agents and soldiers. Dozens of videos posted on social media show residents shouting at the agents to “Go home,” “F you,” and “Are you proud of what you are doing?” See CNN, Washington D.C. residents shout obscenities at arresting officers after National Guard moves in.
Other videos show groups of ICE and police officers (?) looking nervously around as they move through neighborhoods.
Here’s the point: The federal officers and soldiers who are carrying out Trump's orders know that they are increasingly viewed unfavorably as collaborators in Trump's unlawful assault on democracy. That knowledge creates morale problems and resistance to assignments that involve policing cities.
According to one report, 75% of the National Guard troops deployed to Los Angeles said they will not re-enlist due to the deployment. [Enlistment in the armed forces has been up dramatically over the last 12 months, in large part because the military is giving prep courses to recruits who do not otherwise meet the military’s enlistment standards.]
To the extent that members of the National Guard, FBI, DEA, and Metropolitan Police are allowed to decline the assignment to immigration duties, they should exercise that right. And if enough agents and soldiers object to the assignment, the efforts will be curtailed or canceled.
Mass non-cooperation may be the most effective way out of this mess—next to taking back House and Senate at the first opportunity possible.
Trump's favorability ratings continue to decline—especially among young voters
We cannot rely on polls to fool ourselves into believing that it will be easy to (or a foregone conclusion that we will) defeat Trump. But polling can serve as a reality check on our belief that Trump is an incompetent and corrupt president. For the last several months, Trump's favorability rating has steadily declined as people experience the effects of his anti-democratic, anti-people policies.
On Thursday, new polling showed that Trump's favorability rating continues to fall across the board, but is especially among young voters. See The New Republic, This Crucial Demographic Is Turning on Trump, Brutal New Poll Shows.
A recent Pew survey found that the largest drop in Trump's support by far was among his youngest voters in 2024, between the ages of 18 and 39. Only 69 percent of Trump'sTrump's youngest voters said that they approved of his job performance, down from 92 percent when he entered office, according to the survey. In the last two months alone, Trump's job performance approval dropped 11 points among this demographic.
While some of the younger, white voters may not support the Democratic candidate in 2026 and 2028, if they stay home, it will be a loss for Republican candidates.
Again, we can’t count on Republicans to beat themselves, but we should at least acknowledge Trump's historic unpopularity among younger voters. And we should be ready to exploit the issues that are causing young voters to move away from Trump. [More on that tomorrow.]
Trump is promoting himself for the Nobel Peace Prize
Trump wants a Nobel Peace Prize because Barack Obama received one. Trump has stooped to the lowest form of self-promotion—calling members of the Norwegian government (ostensibly on other business) to promote his candidacy. See Politico, Trump cold-called Norwegian minister to ask about Nobel Peace Prize.
[Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter]
